Foxed!
by The-Lost-Ninjas
Summary: Due to a freakish accident, Naruto is stuck in the form of a chibi fox! Now he must escape the clutches of the evil Sasuke! ...yeah... YaoiSasuNaru.
1. Default Chapter

OK...first off we are really really truly very sorry for the horrible formatting when we first put this chapter up. The chapter DOES have paragraps but...we used a different computer than we normally do and it just kept...stopping on us and...seriously we didn't even think it went up at all. I'm back at my usual computer with my usual word program so hopefully it will work this time around....and we beg your forgiveness! (bows to readers) Please Please read the chapter over again we beg you, we love this sory so much and we hope you will too!   
  
Oh and have I mentioned we're sorry?  
  
Anyway, on with the show! With paragraphs this time!! (gasp)  
  
Foxed!  
  
Summary: Due to a freakish accident while spying on Sasuke, Naruto is now sporting a fluffy orange tail with matching ears!   
  
Warnings: OOC syndrome…although we were going for that so…yeah… This story should be tame compared to our other ones…but we're not making any promises! Also it is Yaoi! You have been warned!  
  
Pairings: SasuNaru!!! So there!!!  
  
Rating: PG13…for now…if we don't lose our minds in the process of writing…again…  
  
Chapter 1- What one will do…  
  
A figure crouched in the bushes, waiting for it's target to be seen. Blue eyes shone in the light of the near full moon, focusing on the illuminated window several stories up...  
  
At last another figure moved by the window, and the light went out. A few moments later a blur, barely noticeable, flew from the side of the building and into the night. The figure in the bushes grinned. It was time.  
  
Naruto crept from the bushes towards the Uchiha mansion. Now that Sasuke was away the fox could play. Naruto tried not to snicker at his play on words for a nursery rhyme. He was going to find out once and for all the bastard's weakness. After all he was Naruto's rival and Naruto was getting a little annoyed at the stone cool Uchiha. Why the hell was he being much more of a bastard then normal?  
  
Quickly and quietly he snuck in through an open window...well maybe not quietly, he knocked over a book on his way, but since the entire building was empty he really didn't pay it much attention. He snuck through the home and up the stairs, straining his ears for any sign that Sasuke was coming home, but the house was dark and silent. At last he reached his destination, and cautiously pushed the door open and stepped into Sasuke's bedroom, practically shivering with anticipation at the goodies he would find inside.  
  
He was slightly disappointed when he looked around, Sasuke's room was so...bare...why wasn't there any kind of posters or ...well anything personal? The walls, thank god, were not grey but still they did reflect almost everything Naruto knew about Uchiha Sasuke...which was almost nothing. Naruto sighed and began looking for clues, maybe a diary or...something...  
  
He pulled out a dresser...nothing but duplicates of the outfits that Sasuke always wore. Naruto twitched, didn't he have any other kind of clothes, he wondered, completely ignoring the fact that he owned probably ten pairs of the same orange outfit he always wore. He sighed and started flipping through the books and scrolls on Sasuke's shelf...they were all just boring things on jutsu...  
  
He stopped when a small photo fell out from one of the books and floated to the floor.  
  
Picking up the photo Naruto was shocked to see a five-year-old Sasuke holding the hand of someone who must have been his mother, and the boy in the picture was actually smiling! Getting over his shock Naruto looked at the other person in the photo who must have been his father...but the rest of the picture was torn, cutting off the fourth person who stood by the older man. Naruto could barely make out a shoulder and a bit of the sleeve. Naruto squinted at the picture, and ran a finger down the torn edge. Why had Sasuke ripped the picture? He wondered thoughtfully, and his eyes moved back to rest on the smiling face of the five-year-old Sasuke. He almost wished he could see Sasuke smile like that again...  
  
He was brought out of his train of thought by the sound of footsteps coming up the stairs.   
  
'Crap Crap CRAP!' Naruto cursed inside his head trying to think of what to do, Sasuke must be home! Who else would be there inside of the Uchiha mansion?! The window was closed and locked with drapes that looked like they had converted into bars before Naruto's eyes. The only other way out was the door and Sasuke was coming from there! H-he needed to hide!  
  
He looked around frantically...there was nowhere to hide, the room was so neat and tidy...there wasn't room under the bed, if he went into the closet he would make too much noise and there was nothing he could hide behind. The footsteps came closer to the door, the door handle moved slightly so Naruto took the only option he could think of. He made a sign with his hands and whispered something under his breath.  
  
Sasuke opened the door and stared down at the animal sitting in the middle of his room, it was a fox. What the hell was a fox doing his room? Truing on the light, Sasuke tried to figure out what a wild animal was doing there...it wasn't very big. Maybe it was a kit? It certainly looked wide-eyed and scared...but that could be because it wasn't used to humans.  
  
He knelt down in front of the tiny fox, who backed away a little bit, frightened. After a moment he reached a hand out to it and said in a friendly voice "Hey little guy..."  
  
Naruto the fox stared in disbelief at Sasuke. Had he just sounded...friendly? Nice? What the hell was the world coming to? He backed up a little more but found himself already pressed up against the wall. Sasuke reached out his hands and before Naruto knew what was happening, he was in the Uchiha's arms. He blinked 'How the hell?' he asked mentally, and was about to bite, scratch, and claw his way out of his rival's arms when Sasuke reached up a hand and scratched him between the ears.  
  
All thoughts of escape flew out of Naruto's mind as the most overwhelming feeling of happiness took him over. No wonder cats liked to be scratched behind the ears...it felt good...it felt really, really good. He felt a strange sort of purring noise coming out of his throat as he leaned into Sasuke's hand happily.  
  
Sasuke stopped his scratching and looked around. "How did you get in here little guy?" He asked, again with that unfamiliar friendly tone. Naruto opened his half closed lids and groggily wondered what he was doing...then it hit him. He was stuck in Sasuke's room as a fox...the guy had just scratched him behind the ears and...and....He'd LIKED it?!  
  
That was not the most shocking thing though, no not by a long shot. Sasuke...the great Uchiha Sasuke...was...actually...talking to him in one of those voices that NORMAL people with hearts use when talking to an animal or baby! T-This was almost Twilight Zone music worthy...but it also was the perfected cover. That is, if Uchiha Sasuke didn't use his freaky eye thing and saw right through the disguise...but Naruto might be able to find out...well he didn't know what he could find out but he bet his fluffy orange tail it had to be juicy.  
  
He decided then that the best course of action would be to play up his role as the cute and adorable fox, and try to squeeze as much information out of the unsuspecting Uchiha as he could. Grinning evilly on the inside he pulled out everything he knew on the subject of cuteness and threw it at Sasuke, giving him the biggest puppy dog eyes he'd ever had to use. He made a cooing sound and tilted his head slightly for effect.  
  
Sasuke looked down at the adorable fox he held in his arms, and although he still wondered where it had come from, Sasuke was happy to comply with his need for attention. Strangely enough, the big bright blue eyes reminded him of the dobe...that is to say Naruto.   
  
Sitting himself down on the bed, Sasuke held the little fox out so he could get a better look at it. He stared at it for a while in silent contemplation, and Naruto started to sweat. Was he seeing through his disguise? Damn it, he had to up the cuteness factor some more to distract him! He made another cooing noise and wagged his fluffy tail, and Naruto could swear...was that a smile on his lips? Well...it was almost a smile anyway.  
  
"You remind me of someone I know." Sasuke said suddenly, and Naruto stopped his tail wagging. Damn it, he was so doomed!  
  
Sasuke's brow knitted together as if he was thinking of something rather important...either that or he had gas. Just in case, Naruto tested his nose…nope only the sweet aroma of Sasuke met his nose...wait 'Sweet?!' Naruto tested the air again…yeah Sasuke smelt like mint and strawberries...who would have thought?  
  
"Naruto." Sasuke said suddenly, and Naruto's heart stopped beating completely.   
  
'Damn!!!' He cursed to himelf. 'I've been found out, he's going to kill me!!!!' He closed his eyes trying to prepare himself for the eruption that was sure to come.  
  
"I think I'll call you Naruto..." Sasuke continued, and Naruto's eyes opened and stared at him in total shock. "You remind me...of him..." He said and pulled Naruto the fox to sit on his lap and stroked his fur.  
  
Naruto was too dumbfounded to even protest as Sasuke scratched him behind the ear again. Had Sasuke had just name him after...well himself? At lest he wasn't going to have to remember some other stupid name that Sasuke might have thought up. Making himself more comfortable in Sasuke's lap, Naruto planned on milking this for everything he could get.  
  
"Yeah your definitely a 'Naruto'" Sasuke said again.  
  
'I'd better be...' Naruto thought to himself and closed his eyes, enjoying the feel of Sasuke's fingers scratching that wonderful spot behind his ear. A guy could get used to treatment like this...He found himself thinking, then stopped. 'Where the hell had that come from??' Frustrated, he pushed Sasuke's hand away without realizing that he was supposed to be buttering the guy up for juicy info.  
  
Sasuke blinked at the fox who was now squirming and trying to escape...although making a very poor attempt at it. Naruto the fox was laying on his back in Sasuke's lap so, needless to say, he was trapped and Sasuke didn't even have to lift a finger to hold him.   
  
Naruto sighed, annoyed that his escape attempt did not work out as planned and was about to go into a bit of a sulking fit when Sasuke asked him a question that made his ears perk right up. "Hey are you hungry?"  
  
He wagged his tail happily at the mere mention of food. 'Maybe Sasuke has ramen!' Although he didn't seem like the ramen type but then again he didn't seem like the cuddle-a-baby-fox type either, so who knew? Well granted he hadn't cuddled him yet but...  
  
His thoughts were once more interrupted when Sasuke picked him up and held him to his chest, carrying him into the kitchen. With his nose practically pressed up against the fabric of Sasuke's shirt the smell of mint and strawberries was almost overpowering.  
  
Naruto suddenly had an urge to go and find some fresh strawberries...but wait! They were in the kitchen now...what was Sasuke planning on feeding him?   
  
Sasuke flicked on the lights and opened the fridge, wondering what he should feed the little fox in his arms...after all foxes were carnivores right? 'So then left over ramen probably won't go over too well...' or at lest that's what Sasuke thought as he moved the pot of ramen out of the way to get at some meat he had defrosting in the fridge.  
  
'Ramen!!!' Naruto thought happily to himself and squirmed out of Sasuke's arms, leaping into the fridge and attacking the bowl with tin foil over it. He could smell the ramen under it and tried to get at the stuff.  
  
Sasuke blinked and took the fox out of the fridge...Naruto squirmed and tried to get back in. "You like...ramen?" Sasuke asked. Naruto wagged his tail enthusiastically and licked the side of Sasuke's face for good measure...hey, anything for ramen.  
  
Staring at the fox strangely, Sasuke brought out the ramen but didn't even have a chance to warm it up before the small orange fox tried to get at it again. Sasuke barely had time to pull off the tinfoil that covered it and place it on the floor before Naruto plunged his snout into the bowl slurping happily ...although Naruto's sense of taste had changed just a little...he could tell that this was made from instant ramen and not the really good stuff that the ramen guy served him at the noodle bar.  
  
Sasuke watched the fox eat hungrily. "Geeze, your gonna eat yourself to death, Naruto." he complained as Naruto hungrily slurped up the noodles. Hey, ramen was ramen no matter where it came from...didn't matter if it was cold either. With his head buried in the pot he didn't notice the slight softening of Sasuke's eyes. "Just like him..." He muttered to himself.  
  
As Naruto slurped up the last of the ramen he was attacked by a vengeful noodle, which did not want to be eaten. Naruto blinked and tried to stretch his tongue to reach the noodle that had landed on his snout almost between his eyes. Although Naruto's new tongue was long by human standards...it still could not reach the escaping noodle.  
  
Struggling to get the noodle off himself, he squirmed in every way he could think of, trying to grab it off with his paws, but the damned thing just would not be unstuck. As he tried to rub it off by dragging the top of his head across the floor, as sound came to his ears...a very unfamiliar sound...probably not heard since the last time dinosaurs roamed the earth.  
  
Sasuke was laughing.  
  
Naruto stopped trying to get the noodle was still evading him and stared... 'Okay Twilight Zone music should staring...now! No now! Okay now!'   
  
Sasuke cleared his throat when he saw the fox staring at him as if the little orange thing knew he was the source of his amusement, and reaching over he picked the stray noodle off Naruto nose and held it out for him to take.  
  
That ghost of a smile came back as Naruto bent his head to take the noodle from Sasuke's hand, and he reached out both hands to pick up the small orange creature. "It's late, I should get to bed." He told the fox, who was still a little shocked from the laughing incident...and a little dissapointed that the ramen was gone. He let Sasuke carry him back into his room and place him at the foot of the bed, while he turned and dug in his dresser for something.  
  
Pulling out a pair of pajama shorts and placing then next to Naruto on the bed Sasuke began to undress. Naruto's eyes widened as he watched Sasuke pull his clothing off...it was almost hypnotic...Naruto quickly averted his eyes form the sight of a half naked Sasuke. So as not to look suspicious, he began sniffing his way around the bed...hey it wasn't all that interesting but it kept his eyes off of Sasuke's lean body... 'Stop thinking about his body! What's this smell here on the pillow? Think about that! …Hmm smells salty...'  
  
He continued to sniff around the pillow...mostly the entire area smelled salty...except for a little bit in the middle...  
  
He didn't have any more time to ponder this because he felt the covers being lifted up from under him and he lost his footing, toppling head over paw to the other side of the bed. He stood up and shook his ruffled fur up indignantly and watched as Sasuke, now in his pajamas, crawled under the covers and shut off the bedside lamp.  
  
'Humph, where's my bed? …Bastard Sasuke can't even give a poor stray animal a decent bed…' Naruto thought bounding over to Sasuke and sitting down right on his chest looking down at him as if defying Sasuke to move him...okay maybe he didn't need a bed really, after all once Sasuke was asleep he was going to make a break for it... but still couldn't he have some place comfy to rest while he waited for Sasuke to fall sleep?  
  
Naruto's now sensitive eyes could see Sasuke smile a little as he reached out to scratch the top of Naruto's head, and the next thing he knew he felt the boy's hands wrap around his middle and pick him up. 'Now this is more like it! A nice comfy place to rest while...'  
  
He stopped thinking when Sasuke pulled Naruto into a loose embrace, lying him right beside him on the bed, and snuggling in comfortably. "Night...Naruto..." he muttered sleepily.  
  
If Naruto was actually in his human state he would have blushed...or run away or...or...something! But he couldn't do anything or else he would blow his cover! God knew what Sasuke would do to him when he found out he was...cuddling the real Naruto and not just a stray animal that he'd named after him. Trying not to do anything but lay there Naruto's sensitive ears told him that Sasuke had finally fallen asleep...'About bloody time it's 3 in the bloody morning!'  
  
He carefully crawled out from under Sasuke's arms, trying not to wake him again, and fell silently onto the wooden floor, looking around him. The bedroom door was slightly ajar so he went through that, and once out in the hallway, he couldn't take it anymore. He had to get out of this body and get the creepy feeling of Sasuke's hands stroking his fur and scratching behind his ear and...laughing. laughing...and...half naked...he needed it ALL out of his mind now! He closed his eyes and concentrated on letting go of the jutsu.  
  
He blinked and looked around him... 'huh?' He was still looking at things from an impossibly short angle...looking down at his hands...paws Naruto cursed, he was still a fox! Trying again and again, Naruto still had as much luck getting back into his original form as Garra had getting a good night's sleep...the guy was an insomniac... so needless to say, Naruto was still sporting his orangey blonde fur with matching tail and ears.  
  
By now panicking, he tried one last time to get back to his normal self...but no such luck. He didn't understand it, he'd done this a million times before...well not with this particular form but still, it was easy! Looking around he decided that maybe if he got out of this creepy house he could fix himself, and ran desperately down the stairs and out the open window he'd come in, using the book he'd knocked over as a stepping stone to get to the ledge.  
  
Naruto tumbled head over paws and he landed hard on the ground. Damn fur was a good thing to protected against road rash... Leaping to his four feet, he dashed off towards home hoping that with familiar surroundings he could transform himself back...unfortunately...he couldn't reach the door-knob to let himself in.   
  
He tried his window...no luck there...he even tried the little narrow window in his bathroom but his home was locked up tighter than the forbidden scrolls in the Hokage tower. Finally he sighed dejectedly and flopped down on the walkway to his apartment...he tried a couple of times to transform back but had the same results as before. Finally he sunk in exhaustion onto his side and closed his eyes. He was stuck...stuck as a tiny fox...  
  
TBC…  
  
Gasp! Who saw this coming?! Will Naruto be able to change back? Will he even get back into his apartment? Where is he going to sleep? What the hell is up with the writers?! Have they gone and lost their minds?!  
  
Eimaj: Ummmmm…..yeah actually we have'   
  
Mysterious Ninja: Oh…sorry…  
  
Well, anyway, please review! And stay tuned…for the next episode!!!  
  
Eimaj: Ummm…actually it's a chapter…  
  
MN: …Shut up… 


	2. Chapter 2: Lost and Found

Foxed!   
  
Summary: Due to a freakish accident while spying on Sasuke, Naruto is now sporting a fluffy orange tail with matching ears!   
  
Warnings: OOC syndrome…although we were going for that so…yeah… This story should be tame compared to our other ones…but we're not making any promises! Also it is Yaoi! You have been warned!   
  
Pairings: SasuNaru!!! So there!!!   
  
Rating: PG13…for now…if we don't lose our minds in the process of writing…again…

Chapter 2: Lost and Found  
  
Sasuke yawned and opened his eyes. The sun was just barely shining into his room...it was still early morning. He sat up and rubbed at his sore eyes and mentally cursed himself for being weak enough to cry in his sleep again. (Hence the salty pillows! All you people with your minds in the gutters, tsk tsk...) Blinking sleepily, Sasuke looked around for the little visitor he'd had last night, but to his disappointment the small fox could not be found anywhere...the only evidence that he had been there at all was the blonde fur he had left on the bed.   
  
He got up and wandered the house for a while, calling the little fox's name...although since it had only been given its name the day before, it probably wouldn't have known it anyway. The fox, however, was nowhere in the house. There was an open window on the bottom floor, and a book had been knocked off the little table underneath it, so he assumed that the fox had entered and escaped from there.   
  
Although he was disappointed that his visitor had left him in the middle of the night, Sasuke had other things to think about. Getting ready for the day did not take long at all and since he did not want to stay inside his empty home Sasuke left...but not before propping a window open just in case his visitor wanted to come back.   
  
He wandered to the area where team seven met to be given their instructions by Kakashi...although it was pointless to get there on time considering Kakashi was notoriously late. So it didn't matter much that he was just a little late by the time he reached the bridge...what did matter was that Naruto didn't seem to be there yet. Sakura was waiting, staring into the water, but there was no Naruto in sight.   
  
Sakura looked up as Sasuke neared the bridge, "Good morning, Sasuke-kun!" his pink haired teammate greeted, waving enthusiastically. Sasuke tried not to cringe at the girl's high-pitched voice. Did she always have to speak like that to him? She didn't even seem deterred when Sasuke merely grunted a response and ignored her.   
  
Sasuke looked up the road...then down the road. No familiar orange jumpsuit coming down either way... "...Where's Naruto?" Sasuke ventured to ask after a pause, and for all intents and purposes it sounded as if he didn't care one speck and was merely minutely curious at the others absence.   
  
"That baka," Sakura complained, crossing her arms over her chest, "He's always late!" she said, not even bothering to notice that Sasuke had been later than usual himself. Sasuke just sighed and ignored her. What was the point if all she was going to do was bad mouth Naruto...   
  
He leaned on the railing and stared up at the sky as they waited. And waited, and waited some more, for either Naruto or Kakashi to appear. At last, when the sun had risen high above them and it was almost lunchtime, Kakashi appeared as he usually did. "Sorry, I got lost on the road of..." He stopped as Sakura twitched at him and Sasuke only stared. "Where's Naruto?"   
  
Sasuke just shrugged his shoulders in response, but Sakura went on about him being irresponsible and annoying and so on and so forth. Kakashi nodded his head as if he was listening to every word the pink haired girl had to say, but that illusion was shattered because his eyes were on his perverted book.   
  
"Kakashi-sensei, what should we do?" Sasuke asked and Sakura continued to mutter to herself.   
  
Kakashi glanced up from his book to the two students before him. "Well...our mission today requires that we have three team members but obviously we don't have three members, so I'm canceling it for now." He paused. "Sasuke, I want you to find Naruto and uncover the reason for his absence, if you would."   
  
Sasuke just twitched in response and left the meeting area without bothering to say if he was going to find Naruto or not. Sakura looked after Sasuke longingly and was about to run after him, but remembered that he was going off to find that baka Naruto...she really was not set for a day of Naruto...he would probably glomp onto her and ask for a date...   
  
She turned on her heel and stormed off, and Kakashi simply disappeared from where he was standing, perverted book still in hand.   
  
Sasuke wandered down the streets in search of the blonde haired deserter. He first checked the places he knew Naruto liked to go, but he wasn't at the ramen bar or the public baths and he really didn't know what else he did with his spare time. At last he made it to Naruto's apartment, maybe he'd just slept in or something.   
  
When he reached Naruto's apartment, however, Sasuke was a bit surprised to see his visitor from last night sleeping on the dobe's doorstep. Kneeling down next the little fox, Sasuke scratched it behind the ears. The purr that came from its throat caused Sasuke's eyes to soften a little. But when he went to pick up the little orange thing he raised an eyebrow...it was purring...and still sleeping?   
  
He looked around...and wondered why the heck the tiny fox was sleeping on Naruto's doorstep, of all people. Shrugging it off, he slipped his hands under the light body of the fox and picked it up.   
  
Naruto blinked as strong hands lifted him off the ground and he was pressed up against something warm...something that smelled like mint...and strawberries and... His eyes flew open, and he found himself staring at familiar blue fabric.   
  
Looking up at Uchiha Sasuke, Naruto thought he was going to have a heart attack. 'What the hell is he doing here? Why is he holding me? W-What happened?' Naruto's mind raced with questions, but he stopped and yawned...wait, why was his mouth so big? And why was his ear twitching?' Reaching up with his hind leg to scratch at the itch behind his ear, Naruto nearly had another heart attack, less than a minute after the first. 'WHAT THE HELL?'   
  
His mind reeled as he looked down at himself...he had orange fur...and a tail...and paws and.... 'What the hell did that bastard Sasuke do to me?!' He thought frantically, searching his mind for any recollection of the night before.   
  
Then he remembered sneaking into Sasuke's room, getting stuck as the fox, Sasuke undressing... His mind unconsciously lingered on that last one for a moment before he angrily pushed it aside and looked around him. Sasuke was standing outside Naruto's apartment and was reaching out to turn the knob to try and get inside.   
  
Naruto was just about to bite the hand that was threatening to get into his home, not realizing that he was supposed to be cute and cuddly...plus that that was probably the only way he was going to get into his home anyway. Unfortunately his head was at the wrong angle, and when he tried to bite Sasuke's arm he nearly fell out of Sasuke's grasp.   
  
Sasuke quickly grabbed the fox tighter and put it in a more safe position in his arms...which was upside down in the crook of his right arm where he could hardly squirm, let alone escape. Naruto watched helplessly as Sasuke turned the knob...and the door opened. 'Damn it, why didn't I lock my door before I left?!' Naruto cursed.   
  
As Sasuke stepped into Naruto's home with...Naruto the fox under his arm, the musty smell of his dirty laundry hit his nose like a rolled up newspaper. 'Gah! IT reeks! I need AIR!' He cried inwardly, but of course Naruto could not speak...like he would tell Sasuke that he couldn't stand the smell of his own home anyway.   
  
Sasuke looked around Naruto's apartment, and his own nose twitched, although he was not nearly as offended by the smell as the small fox in his arm.   
  
Sasuke cautiously stepped farther into the apartment and looked around. Everything was a mess...had there been a struggle? Or was Naruto just a horribly messy person? Sasuke opted for the last one, it was more probable. "Naruto?" He called out and walked by Naruto's little table with several empty containers of instant ramen piled up, and a few dirty dishes. "Naruto, are you here?" He called out again and cautiously walked into the back of the apartment where Naruto's bed was situated.   
  
It didn't look like it had been slept in the night before...well that was only a guess because of the sloppy job the blonde had done making his bed. Having never been inside of Naruto's home before, Sasuke took some time to look around. There were a lot of plants around actually...and none of them were dead, surprisingly. Some posters were on the walls, junk on the floor; dirty clothes tossed around...nothing really important.   
  
'Ok, I'm not here genius, can we go now?' Naruto thought to himself. At this part of the apartment, the smell of dirty laundry was almost enough to make the little fox pass out. He was going to have to remember to CLEAN when he got back to normal.   
  
Unfortunately for him, Sasuke moved farther in and started pushing some of Naruto's stuff around with his feet. 'What the hell is he doing?!' Naruto thought. Sasuke didn't seem like the nosy type...   
  
Naruto stared down in horror as Sasuke's foot uncovered a small orange book...of course it had to be orange, what other colour would he choose for his Di...Journal? Naruto refused to admit he had a diary, it was a journal! Naruto could only stare at it, hoping Sasuke would not notice the bright orange cover that could probably be seen from outer space. No such luck, Sasuke bent down and picked up the journal, and Naruto felt like he was going to die...and not just from the fumes.   
  
Sasuke turned the orange book over in his hands curiously, and he sat down on the edge of Naruto's messy bed. Naruto squirmed to try and escape so he could grab the book and take off with it...or throw it out the window...or tear it to shreds or...something! But he was still held firmly in place by Sasuke's arm. 'Nooooooo!!' He screamed inside as Sasuke opened the cover to the page that had 'Naruto's Journal' written on it in the blonde's messy handwriting.   
  
Naruto felt his heart pounding in his chest as Sasuke's brow knitted together, trying to decipher what Naruto's Journal had to say.   
  
After a moment, Sasuke sighed in frustration, "Damn dobe, " he muttered, rubbing the bridge of his nose, "This isn't writing, it's chicken scratch." he complained and closed the book. The small fox under his arm seemed to loosen up as Sasuke closed the book, but he didn't pay attention to that.   
  
Naruto relaxed. Sasuke couldn't read his di...journal, it was a journal! Then it hit him. 'Chicken scratch?' He thought angrily to himself. 'My writing is not chicken scratch!!' He glared up at Sasuke, who was still holding onto the journal as if trying to decipher its secrets by just looking at the cover.   
  
Tucking the fox more securely under his arm, Sasuke still had a hold of the bright orange journal as he grabbed Naruto's keys, which had been lying on the counter, then left Naruto's home and locked the door behind him.   
  
'What the hell?!' Naruto ranted in his head, 'Sasuke's a klepto! What the hell! That's my stuff! My Keys! My journal!'   
  
Sasuke stared at the door for a moment before dropping the keys in his pocket and turning around. He looked down and realized he still had Naruto's so called 'journal' in his hand. Oh well, he'll just return it when he found Naruto...if he found Naruto. He tucked the little orange book in his pocket as well and looked around. He was all out of places to look.   
  
Sighing, Sasuke turned in the direction of Kakashi's home...he would at least have to look there to tell his instructor that he hadn't been able to find the dobe. Looking down at the fox he still carried in his arms, he felt a ghost of a smile appearing on his lips again, the fox looked like he was pouting... Again Sasuke was struck by how odd it was that he found the animal outside of Naruto's apartment and that the little fluffy thing reminded him so much of the dobe.   
  
Maybe he was Naruto's pet or something... He thought, but he remembered Naruto telling him once that his landlord didn't allow pets in the apartments. Of course, Naruto was the type who would throw that rule out the window and keep a tiny fox anyway. None of this speculation, however, led him to any brainwaves about Naruto's location. It was as if he'd just...disappeared or something...   
  
He sighed as he reached Kakashi's door and knocked to announce his presence.   
  
He was just about to walk in afterwards but when Iruka opened the door, Sasuke had to hide the mild shock that threatened to show on his face. "Sasuke-kun." Iruka said, looking slightly disappointed, "H-Have you found Naruto?" the older ninja asked, not bothering to explain why he was at Kakashi's home in the first place.   
  
"Will you two come inside, you're letting the cold air in." A bored voice said from inside the apartment. Iruka blushed a little at his rudeness and stepped aside to let Sasuke and his little fox inside. Kakashi's apartment was small...Naruto's was large compared to it, and the three of them felt slightly cramped.   
  
"Well?" Iruka asked impatiently.   
  
"Um...no I didn't find him." Sasuke explained. "All I found was this little guy." He held up the fox.   
  
Iruka and Kakashi blinked...what did a little orange fox have to do with anything? And even holding the animal up and asking them, saying the words, 'little guy' was completely out of character for Uchiha Sasuke. Apparently there was a point to all this and it became clear when Sasuke asked, "Does Naruto own any pets?"   
  
Kakashi shrugged his shoulders, he didn't know, nor care if the blonde had a whole zoo in his home. Iruka just shook his head, answering no.   
  
Sasuke sighed and flopped down on Kakashi's one and only chair.   
  
"Why do you ask that?" Iruka wondered.   
  
Sasuke was silent for a moment as if brooding about something before answering. "I found him outside Naruto's apartment...I thought maybe he was Naruto's but I guess not..."   
  
Naruto squirmed out of Sasuke's grasp at last and ran to Iruka's feet. Iruka would be able to help him get back! But when he tried to ask for help the only thing that came out of his mouth were barks and squeaks.   
  
Iruka looked down at the small fox that was barking and squeaking at his feet. Reaching down, Naruto's former teacher scratched the small animal behind the ears. Naruto ceased his obsessive barking and yipping, and emitted a low cooing sound; he melted under Iruka's hand.   
  
Sasuke sighed, "I also found him in my home last night..." he admitted, hoping that it was not of consequence.   
  
"If he's Naruto's pet, maybe he came to tell you that his master was missing?" Kakashi suggested hopefully. Sasuke highly doubted that the animal was smart enough for that but it would explain a lot...   
  
"Maybe..." He said.   
  
Iruka rubbed the fox's belly as Naruto cooed happily. "I wish we had some kind of clue to where he went..." He mused sadly.   
  
Sasuke thought about it for a moment then reached into his pocket to pull out the little orange book. "What about this?" He asked, holding it out to Iruka. "It might have some clues, but I can't read it."   
  
Iruka looked up and blinked, "Is that his diary?" he asked; only to be distracted when the small fox began tugging on his pant leg.   
  
Kakashi sighed and rubbed his head. "Ninjas shouldn't keep diaries..." he muttered before taking the orange book and flipping through it. After a moment, though he had to close it, "This...is chicken scratch..." the silver haired ninja said and was immediately attacked by the little fox who decided his footwear must be tasty.   
  
"Give me that..." Iruka complained and took the diary from Kakashi's hands, opening it. Naruto groaned inwardly and abandoned his attack on Kakashi's shoe. If there was anyone who could read his writing it was Iruka, he'd been marking his stuff since he was a little kid. All three of them watched as Iruka flipped slowly through the pages, a thoughtful look on his face.   
  
At last, Iruka put the book down and sighed. "Well, apparently, he at least put an effort into his school work..." he muttered.   
  
"Does that mean you can't read it either?" Sasuke asked, wanting a straight answer, although he had not meant to sound rude about it...not that he was worried about the dobe...   
  
Iruka shook his head, "I can...sort of... But it's going to take some time." he added with a sigh.   
  
Sasuke and Kakashi both sighed. Sasuke because it meant they still were no closer to finding Naruto and he didn't like the feeling that the uncertainty of Naruto coming home was putting in his stomach, and Kakashi probably just because it was annoying...although it was hard to tell.   
  
"What do we do, then?" Sasuke asked after a long pause.   
  
Kakashi stood up, "I guess I'll have to inform the Hokage..." he muttered, sounding almost bored, Iruka and Sasuke felt like smacking the man, couldn't he be more concerned about his missing student? Although Sasuke would never admit to having that impulse, especially not for THAT reason.   
  
"The best we can do for now is keep our eyes open for Naruto." Iruka said, picking up the fox and handing him back to Sasuke, "You don't mind taking care of this little guy for a while, do you Sasuke?"   
  
Sasuke shook his head and gently took the fox from Iruka's arms. Naruto felt numb...scared...confused...he didn't know what was going on. His friends and teachers thought he was missing...and he was right there. He couldn't even communicate his plight to anyone, whenever he tried to speak he only made fox noises. Worst of all he was going to have to stay with Sasuke...and Iruka had his diary   
  
"I would take care of him, but my apartment building doesn't allow pets..." Iruka was saying, but Naruto did not really pay attention to what was going on as Sasuke held him. Naruto only vaguely realized that Sasuke had also handed over his keys to Iruka before leaving Kakashi's apartment entirely.   
  
Sighing as he walked down the street, Sasuke looked down at the little fox in his arms, was it his imagination or did the little guy look depressed?   
  
He stroked the soft orange fur, but the fox just sighed and rested his head on Sasuke with no energy whatsoever.   
  
Sasuke took his eyes off the fox and realized that he was standing outside of Naruto's favorite ramen bar. Telling himself that he just didn't want to cook that night, he stepped inside and felt his heart drop heavily when he didn't see Naruto inside...why he'd been hoping he was in there he didn't know, but he quickly made his order to go and took the ramen and the fox home with him.   
  
Once home, Sasuke dished out a bowl for himself and the fox... why wasn't the little thing as perky as it was last night? Or even before he'd left Kakashi's? Hoping that fox Naruto was somewhat like the real Naruto, he placed the ramen in front of the fox... maybe the little thing just needed a recharge, as Naruto had so often needed.   
  
Naruto's ears twitched and his nose sniffed at the ramen in front of him. His nose told him that this was the good stuff...from his favorite Ramen bar. He pulled himself to his four paws and buried his snout in the bowl, eating ravenously. Hey, he hadn't eaten all day, he was hungry.   
  
Sasuke didn't exactly sigh with relief when the fox buried his nose into the ramen. There was no doubt about it, the fox had to have belonged to the dobe. How else had the animal become addicted to ramen as Naruto was? As the fox slurped happily away, Sasuke sat back and ate his own meal as he brooded over what might have happened to Naruto.   
  
The blonde was irresponsible...even childish sometimes, but he wasn't the type to just take off without telling anyone about it. If he was going to leave he would at least tell Iruka, he looked up to the man like a father, but Iruka was just as in the dark as he was. He was now convinced that Naruto hadn't been in his apartment the previous night but all that proved was that he had disappeared without a trace...where the hell was the dobe?   
  
Sighing, Sasuke looked down at the fox who had finished his ramen in record time, compared to Sasuke who was doing more thinking then eating...actually, Sasuke did not feel like eating all that much. Placing the rest of his ramen into the fox's bowl, he sat back and watched the animal practically dive into the thing.   
  
He reached out and placed a hand on the fox's head. Naruto looked up for a second from his eating spree and the ramen was suddenly pushed out of his mind by the troubled look in the other boy's dark eyes. He almost looked...sad or something...but Sasuke couldn't look sad, could he? His mind pulled him backwards in time to the day Sasuke had 'died' in his arms...he'd looked sad then, but what reason was there for him to be sad now? Did...was Sasuke actually worried about him or something?   
  
Not really thinking about what he was doing, Naruto left the bowl of ramen and put his paws up on Sasuke's leg, asking to be picked up. Sasuke complied and was a little surprised when the fox cooed at him and nuzzled his face, but he didn't complain about it and instead buried his face into the thick fur.   
  
Naruto blinked as Sasuke pressed his nose into his fur and clutched him tightly. What was he trying to do, eat him? Suffocate himself in his fur? What the hell was wrong with him, clinging to him like that, it was just...   
  
He stopped, when he felt something wet soak into his fur, and the slight smell of salt came to his sensitive nose.   
  
Naruto turned his head around so he could look at Sasuke...it was kinda hard and he was only able to see Sasuke's dark hair and shoulders... which were shaking... 'Is Sasuke crying? Has Hell frozen over?! The apocalypse is coming!' Even as Naruto's mind told him that the world was about to end, he tried to think...why was Sasuke crying? It was scary...   
  
A very quiet choking sound came from Sasuke and he pulled away as if he suddenly realized what he was doing and held the now damp fox out, who was looking at him with a look that seemed confused, but it's blue eyes seemed worried. He sniffled and wiped the tears still clinging to his eyes away. "Sorry Naruto, I got your fur all wet..." He said, and then stopped. Naruto watched helplessly as Sasuke's eyes threatened to leak tears again.   
  
Naruto was now very very scared...worried... fearful of the end of the world? All of the above...why was Sasuke crying in the first place? Well, to prevent the world from ending before he could eat his weight in ramen, Naruto had to do something to stop this madness!   
  
Sasuke took the hand that held the fox in his lap and scrubbed at his tears angrily with his fist...unfortunately, that hand was the only thing that was keeping Naruto securely on Sasuke's lap. Naruto blinked and he found himself suddenly falling backwards.   
  
He tumbled off Sasuke's lap and into something round and full of a wet, warm substance...that smelled a lot like miso... He groaned when he realized he'd fallen into the bowl of ramen, now it would be all full of hair...   
  
Sasuke stopped sniffling as he looked down at the fox struggling to get out of the ramen bowl and couldn't help but smile.   
  
Forgetting the tears that had stung his eyes a moment before, Sasuke reached down and picked the sopping wet animal out of the bowl of ramen. Poor thing looked like a drowned rat, Sasuke smirked as he held the animal out in front of him.   
  
Naruto could only glare over at Sasuke for letting him drop into the ramen bowl in the first place...although he was somehow relieved that Sasuke was now smirking instead of crying...it was probably because it meant the world wasn't going to end yet...yeah that had to be it...   
  
"You need a bath." Sasuke pointed out.   
  
TBC… A Bath?! For all that is holy, Naruto RUN AWAY! Wait, don't… lol   
  
Oh and just so everyone knows…its tears! Tears, people…how would it get up there anyway if it was the other thing? …okay there are ways, but we're trying to keep this a pg13 story. Only cute fluffyness shall be here…and maybe a bit of kissing or nudity but no gutter minds…we left that to our other stories lol.  
  
And a special thanks goes out to our new beta reader, The Raksha! (At least I hope that's what she wants to be called lol) Hopefully with her help we will be able to make our chapters that much better! All bow and pay homage to the beta reader! bow bow 


	3. Chapter 3: Ruba dub dub

Foxed!  
  
Summary: Due to a freakish accident while spying on Sasuke, Naruto is now  
  
sporting a fluffy orange tail with matching ears!  
  
Warnings: OOC syndrome…although we were going for that so…yeah… This story  
  
should be tame compared to our other ones…but we're not making any promises!  
  
Also it is Yaoi! You have been warned!  
  
Pairings: SasuNaru!!! So there!!!  
  
Rating: PG13…for now…if we don't lose our minds in the process of  
  
writing…again…  
  
AN: Sorry this was so late I've had a horrible string of bad luck lately  
  
and was unable to get around to editing this chapter....or maybe I was just  
  
being lazy, I don't know. Anyway, here it is, and hopefully it won't take  
  
me that long to finish new chapters for the other stories'  
  
Chapter 3: Rub-A-Dub-Dub  
  
Naruto could only glare over at Sasuke for letting him drop into the ramen  
  
Bowl, although he was somehow relieved that Sasuke was  
  
now smirking instead of crying...it was probably because it meant the world  
  
wasn't going to end yet...yeah that had to be it...  
  
"You need a bath." Sasuke pointed out.  
  
Naruto's eyes widened, 'A BATH!?' He cried in his head, 'Nooooo!!!' he  
  
tried to get out of Sasuke's grip, but finally had to give up when Sasuke  
  
grabbed his back feet and held the scruff of his neck; it didn't hurt, but  
  
Naruto was effectively caught and 'hog tied' well, not really, but Naruto  
  
knew when resistance was futile.  
  
He grumbled in his head as Sasuke carried him upstairs and through a door  
  
there. Even as a fox Naruto could not help but gape at the fancy  
  
bathroom...there must be three bathtubs in there! He hoped Sasuke would put  
  
him in the big one in the center, it would be fun to swim in...but alas,  
  
Sasuke took him to a smaller square one in the corner and turned on the  
  
Water. Then he placed Naruto in the water and watched to make sure he wasn't  
  
going to drown before starting to take off his clothes.  
  
Naruto's eyes nearly popped out of his head as Sasuke stripped down to the  
  
skin. 'What the hell!?' Naruto mentally asked, as a very naked Sasuke also  
  
entered the tub. Naruto tried to dash to the rim of the tub, but it was too  
  
high for him to get out...plus it was really hard running in water when your  
  
legs were only 6 inches long.  
  
But still he tried. He was scrambling to climb the slippery slope of the  
  
tub when he felt Sasuke's hands wrap around him and lift him up....onto his  
  
lap in the water! Naruto hadn't known foxes could blush until that  
  
moment...he felt the skin under his fur turn very, very red.  
  
Naruto couldn't even think as Sasuke held him in his lap...his naked lap,  
  
and scrubbed his fur with shampoo...'Hey, this must be where the strawberry  
  
smell comes from...' was really the only intelligent thought that entered  
  
Naruto's mind. All the rest of his thoughts were along the lines of:  
  
'Sasuke naked...' 'Naked Sasuke holding me...' 'Hope he never, ever EVER in  
  
a million years finds out that it's ME he's holding!' 'Waaah, Sasuke's fan  
  
club's going to kill me when they find out!'  
  
Sasuke raised an eyebrow and his fingers paused in their massaging of  
  
Naruto the fox's fur. Was it just him or was the fox blushing? Was that  
  
even possible? He shrugged it off and continued to lather the fox's fur,  
  
smiling a little to himself. At last he took a little bucket and filled it  
  
with water, dumping it over the fox's head.  
  
He smirked again, now the little runt really looked like a drowned rat.  
  
Sasuke was glad for the distraction though, he hated it when he cried, it  
  
just got in the way, and Naruto missing was nothing to cry about, he could  
  
have just...wandered off and forgot to come home. But that still did not  
  
reassure Sasuke down in his gut. Even though he would never show his  
  
emotions to another human being, it was another story when he was alone. He  
  
wasn't the cold hearted Uchiha as everyone thought…no, he was weak… and he  
  
hated it.  
  
The fox looked up at him as if daring him to explain why he'd dumped water  
  
on his head and made him look like he was all skin and bones, but all Sasuke  
  
could do was reach out and absent mindedly run a hand through the damp  
  
orange hair. If he couldn't talk to people...maybe he could talk to his new  
  
friend. It wasn't like he was going to run off and tell anyone, right? And  
  
he'd always heard it he helps to talk about things...and his pillows weren't  
  
listening apparently.  
  
As he squeezed the water out of the fur, Sasuke sighed, wondering how he  
  
was going to start. Then he realized that he was talking to an animal...it  
  
wasn't like he was explaining the science of a light bulb to a two year old  
  
who was going to demanded to know everything. " Dumb Naruto..." he muttered  
  
to himself, not looking at the fox. "Baka had to go and get himself  
  
lost..."  
  
Naruto looked up at Sasuke, who had that look in his eyes again...what now?  
  
He wondered miserably. Sasuke wasn't going to start crying again, was he?  
  
Sasuke, however, just continued to talk.  
  
"Doesn't he realize that people will worry about him if he just  
  
disappears?" Sasuke grumbled. "The Dobe doesn't think before he acts..." He  
  
paused and looked at the fox's blue eyes for a moment. "Sakura won't miss  
  
him though...he adores her and she treats him like dirt...pisses me off..."  
  
The fox's eyes widened and his ears perked up as Sasuke said  
  
this...probably just from the feel of Sasuke scrubbing his back. Sasuke  
  
pondered as he scrubbed the soap suds into the fur again. "Wish she would  
  
just leave me alone..." he continued to mutter, "Naruto's not that  
  
bad, sure he's loud and annoying , but would it kill her to be nice once in a  
  
while..." Naruto felt like slapping Sasuke on the head and telling him the  
  
exact same thing, but Sasuke was still talking...actually he snorted in  
  
contempt. "Yeah, like I'm any better..."  
  
He was silent for a long time as he scrubbed the fox's fur. His fingers  
  
were gentle and the movements slow as both Naruto and Sasuke slipped into  
  
thought. Naruto never thought he'd hear Sasuke sound regretful about the  
  
way he treated him in a million years...  
  
"I don't understand it..." Sasuke started talking again, his eyes softening  
  
and narrowing so slightly Naruto wasn't sure he'd caught it. "I want to say  
  
one thing...but it comes out as something mean." He sighed.  
  
Looking down at the wet fox, though, Sasuke could not help but smirk at the  
  
sight it made, "Do you think your clean enough?" he asked the small  
  
creature, completely switching the topic for no reason whatsoever...well no  
  
reason that Naruto could understand, he was getting to the juicy stuff there!  
  
...Most of it actually disturbed Naruto now that he thought of it, but  
  
still...Naruto was very confused now...  
  
Getting no answer from the fox, Sasuke stood up and took the animal into  
  
his arms. Naruto felt himself blush more as he was pressed against Sasuke's  
  
bare chest while the dark haired ninja stepped out of the bath and pulled a  
  
towel around himself. Sasuke sat down on a little bench in the room and  
  
covered Naruto with another towel, carefully scrubbing his fur dry. He bent  
  
forward and sniffed. "Well at least you don't smell like soup now." He  
  
smirked.  
  
If Naruto could have 'harrumphed' he would have, who would want to smell like  
  
strawberries anyway? But it was kinda funny knowing that Sasuke used  
  
strawberry shampoo and not something else. As Sasuke dried his fur Naruto  
  
was trying to resist the urge to shake himself dry...oh forget resistance.  
  
Sasuke had to turn his head away when a spray of water soaked him.  
  
Sasuke actually chuckled once he'd wiped his face clean of the water from the  
  
fox's hair and he couldn't resist grabbing the fox and giving it a rigorous  
  
scratching behind the ears. He couldn't help but wonder as the fox made  
  
that purring sound and nuzzled at his hand if Naruto would let him keep it  
  
when he got home...it was nice to have something to talk to other than walls  
  
and dark empty rooms.  
  
But Naruto probably wouldn't let him...after all, Naruto was alone too, he  
  
might have gotten the animal for just the same reason. But it seemed kind  
  
of odd to Sasuke... Naruto would have mentioned that he had a fox...at the  
  
very least to Sakura if only to get her to come over and see it. Sasuke  
  
really wished he could get his head around what he was feeling, it was  
  
frustrating and annoying to say the least.  
  
Sasuke sighed and stood up again, carrying Naruto the fox to the door, and  
  
placing him down on the hallway. The fox looked up at him as if confused  
  
and although Sasuke knew it could not understand him, he knelt down and  
  
rubbed it's head anyway. "I'm just going to have a shower, I won't be  
  
long." He told the fox, then turned around and went back in.  
  
Naruto stared at the door, hardly believing his luck. He had complete run  
  
of the house while Sasuke was in the shower...and he wouldn't even be angry  
  
if he found him with his nose in something, he'd just think it was the  
  
curiosity of the fox...maybe he could find some clues to Sasuke's odd  
  
behavior!  
  
Dashing down the hallway, Naruto slipped on the hardwood floor...never run  
  
with wet paws...he was lucky that the stairs he had been heading for went up  
  
instead of down...otherwise Naruto knew he would have been in for a world of  
  
hurt. Taking a bit more care this time, Naruto climbed the stairs to  
  
Sasuke's room...there had to be more there than what he'd found  
  
before...besides, Naruto had no clue where else to look.  
  
He sniffed around the room first, but there wasn't so much as a dust  
  
bunny on the pale wood floor. He tried to open the drawers in Sasuke's desk ,  
  
but his paws could not reach, nor did he have the strength to pull on them  
  
even if he could. At last he sniffed his way under the dark recesses of  
  
Sasuke's bed.  
  
It was dark down there, but Naruto was once again thankful for the excellent  
  
night vision he now possessed...it never really occurred to him that he  
  
should be trying to change back into his human form instead of spying on  
  
Sasuke. There wasn't much under Sasuke's bed...a shoe box...and a  
  
book...ohhh so interesting...Naruto thought with sarcasm.  
  
He sighed and sat on his haunches, staring at the book and the shoe box for  
  
a moment. Somehow it was reassuring to know that Sasuke left things under  
  
his bed too...although maybe he put these under here for a reason...  
  
With new found curiosity about the objects, he approached the book and  
  
nudged it with his nose.  
  
Although it was dark under the bed...really, really dark, Naruto did not  
  
have much difficulty distinguishing the black letters from the white paper.  
  
And what he read on the very first page nearly made his heart stop...or,  
  
to be more precise, caused him to fall over in hysterical laughter, "Journal  
  
of Uchiha Sasuke." Naruto could hardly believe it! Sasuke had a diary too!  
  
He fell to the floor in hysterics and rolled a little, laughing in his head  
  
since foxes don't really have the capacity to laugh outright, and bumped  
  
into something. Blinking, he looked up from his back so see that he'd  
  
knocked the lid off the shoe box. Flipping himself right-side up he stood on  
  
his hind paws and peered over the edge of the shoebox...it was full of  
  
pictures and other little things.  
  
But from the way he was leaning against the box, the contents soon found a  
  
new home on the floor. Naruto nearly had a heart attack when the box tipped  
  
over and dumped the photos and everything on top of him. He really, really  
  
hoped Sasuke had his head under the water at that point in time...Sasuke  
  
might have some other hidden blood line...like super ears or something...  
  
He lay there for a moment, buried in photos, listening for signs that  
  
Sasuke had heard him and was coming to see what was going on. But the room  
  
was silent as a tomb...He shuddered a little at the creepy silence and  
  
pulled himself out from under the pile of photos, shaking the dust out of  
  
his still damp fur, then turned around to see what goodies he'd found...and  
  
his heart nearly stopped again, but for a different reason this time.  
  
Naruto found himself emitting a cooing sound as he looked down at the 3  
  
year old Sasuke's face, mouth, and hands covered in what must have been cake  
  
as he smiled bashfully at the camera. That had to be one of the most  
  
adorable kids Naruto had ever seen! What had happened to him? Sure Sasuke  
  
was sexy but h- wait...sexy?  
  
Naruto recoiled in horror. 'SEXY?!' He screamed in his mind. 'WHAT the  
  
HELL is wrong with me...Sasuke is not sexy, he's not, he's not, he's not,  
  
he's....' His mind reeled with images of Sasuke's slim, naked body which was  
  
so sex....NOT sexy! NOT!!! He cast around desperately for something else  
  
to occupy his mind.  
  
As Naruto ran his head against the floor, trying to get those thoughts out  
  
of his mind, he looked up and saw another picture of Sasuke before  
  
him...Thank god it was not a Sexy Sasuke picture...'Sasuke is not Sexy!  
  
Anyway back to distracting yourself! Picture in front of nose! What's  
  
That!?'  
  
Naruto blinked in surprise when he saw Sasuke again...go figure, but this  
  
time he was accompanied by an older man...well maybe not a man yet, but a  
  
teen at most.  
  
He squinted at the picture...the other guy looked so much like Sasuke it  
  
was scary...mostly the only difference was the long hair tied in a pony tail  
  
and the strange lines on the teenager's face. The older one seemed a little  
  
annoyed about something but Sasuke was holding onto his hand and looking  
  
like everything was good in the world.  
  
Naruto blinked and looked down at the picture which only seemed to  
  
re-iterate the fact that Sasuke was too adorable when he smiled...why the  
  
heck didn't that guy smile very often anymore? Was it like some kind of  
  
weird ninja rule that he'd found somewhere that said good ninjas never  
  
smiled?  
  
Naruto suddenly got an idea...whether it was a good one or not was  
  
debatable, but he figured it could help to keep his mind off Sasuke's sexy  
  
body.....'NOT SEXY BODY, he is NOT sexy!!!!' .....he twitched. Anyway, his  
  
plan was to do everything in his power to make Sasuke smile...a real smile,  
  
not those smirks or evil grins he usually had on his face, but first he had  
  
to figure out HOW to make him smile...he approached the diary with an evil  
  
fox grin.  
  
This was going to be a challenge he knew, BUT he was not going to let the  
  
challenge go unanswered...okay so there was no challenge, but Naruto was  
  
getting bored with only getting an annoyed response form Sasuke while he was  
  
himself...after all Sasuke was not the unfeeling thing he had made himself  
  
appear to be...yeah except he wasn't going to be able to tell anyone about  
  
his accomplishment...oh well.  
  
He placed a paw on the front page of the diary and drug it across,  
  
revealing a random page of writing in very neat and accurately written  
  
characters. He practically pressed his nose to the paper as he began to  
  
read.  
  
'June 14th- Weather: sunny.........We were assigned another stupid  
  
pointless mission today. That damned Kakashi guy never shows up on time and  
  
then I have to listen to those two baka yell at him...I think I'm going  
  
deaf. I can tell Naruto's becoming more and more annoyed with our lack of  
  
progress and I can't blame him...'  
  
"There you are!" Sasuke's voice said from outside the bed and Naruto  
  
thought his heart must have stopped altogether this time...he was caught  
  
with his nose in Sasuke's diary! And he'd spilled the pictures everywhere!  
  
Naruto looked up at Sasuke who was wearing a bathrobe...thank god, as he  
  
stood in the doorway with a mildly surprised expression on his face. Backing  
  
away, he whined as he put his ears down and his tail between his legs.  
  
Naruto really hoped Sasuke wasn't one for beating animals when they got into  
  
his stuff.  
  
But Sasuke just sighed and bent down, ignoring the diary, and the pictures  
  
that were scattered along the floor as he picked up the small fox, "Look at  
  
you," he said and took the towel that was around his neck off, wiping the  
  
dust off of Naruto's still damp fur.  
  
Naruto blinked as Sasuke all but tenderly wiped his fur with the towel. He  
  
should have been past being shocked by things but...since when was Sasuke  
  
such a NICE guy anyway? He certainly didn't act that way to him...  
  
Sasuke put Naruto back down on the floor and reached under the bed to pull  
  
the shoebox and the spilled pictures out. "You get into everything, don't  
  
you?" He asked quietly, putting pictures into small piles and putting them  
  
away again.  
  
Naruto watched as Sasuke began putting away the pictures, did Sasuke  
  
look...sad again? What was with this guy? Wasn't he supposed to be cold and  
  
not have emotions? But of course Naruto was just supposed to be a little  
  
mindless fox, right? So maybe Sasuke was an animal person, not a people  
  
person.  
  
Before Sasuke could put the rest of the pictures away, Naruto reached  
  
forwards and carefully picked up the picture of Sasuke and that...Sasuke's  
  
almost clone person...  
  
He made a questioning noise and tilted his head with the picture held  
  
gently in his mouth. Sasuke's eyes softened and he took the picture from  
  
Naruto and looked at it for a moment. "That's...my brother Itachi." He told  
  
the fox, running a hand along the picture, a mixture of sadness and anger in  
  
his face. Naruto blinked. Sasuke had a brother? Since when?  
  
"He's the man I have to kill..." Sasuke sighed and put it back with the  
  
others.  
  
Naruto's ears perked up, he knew Sasuke wanted to kill a man before this...  
  
but his brother? Actually…hadn't Sasuke mentioned something about that on  
  
that bridge thing...what was that again? He had a hard time remembering  
  
Sasuke's exact words...hey the guy was dying at the time and the only thing  
  
going though Naruto's head right then was...well never mind what it was!  
  
That was nobody's business but his and the bright orange diary...which was  
  
now in Iruka's hands, DAMN!  
  
Sasuke glanced over at the fox and his sad expression turned into an almost  
  
smile when he found it looked kind of like it was scowling at something. He  
  
looked back at the pictures...he'd hid them in the shoebox under his bed to  
  
keep them close to him, but he realized he never really looked at them. He  
  
got up to pull on his pj's (While Naruto tried desperately to stare at the  
  
floor and NOT at Sasuke's body), then picked up the box and the fox (lol I  
  
rhymed), and sat cross legged on the bed.  
  
Looking back down, Sasuke noticed his diary lying open on the floor, and  
  
with a sigh, reached down and picked it up. Looking at the small fox who  
  
stood staring at him, Sasuke shook his head and sighed again, "Knowing you,  
  
you'd probably try and eat the pages instead of reading them." He told the  
  
animal before getting up and putting it on his book shelf high up.  
  
Naruto stared in silent horror as his best chance at getting the goods on  
  
Sasuke was placed high up where he, in this cursed fox form, could not  
  
possibly reach it. 'Damn that Sasuke!!' He cried angrily in his mind and  
  
hunched over, pouting. He had apparently disregarded the fact that he felt  
  
mortified and frightened that Iruka had HIS diary and could read the secrets  
  
inside...  
  
Turning back to see the dejected fox sitting on his bed, Sasuke reached  
  
over and scratched the creature behind the ears. Although that seemed to  
  
perk him up just a little, the animal still looked depressed about  
  
something. Drawing the little fox closer so that he was now sitting on  
  
Sasuke's lap, the dark haired boy turned him around so he was facing away  
  
from Sasuke.  
  
Naruto was confused, 'What the hell?' he asked mentally and was just about  
  
to leap out of Sasuke's arms…he did not want to be cuddled at this point in  
  
time, he wanted juicy info! But when Sasuke brought the stack of pictures  
  
just below his snout, all thoughts of escaping vanished.  
  
Naruto eagerly wagged his tail as Sasuke reached into the box and shifted  
  
around looking for a picture. This was more like it! Sasuke was  
  
voluntarily going to tell him things about the mysterious people in the  
  
picture...he should have turned into a fox YEARS ago...  
  
His thoughts were interrupted when Sasuke pulled out a picture of two older  
  
people, a man and a woman, holding a small dark haired baby in their arms.  
  
Naruto thought that the woman looked an awful lot like Sasuke....  
  
Sasuke pointed to the woman holding the baby, "That's mother and me..." he  
  
told the fox then pointed to the eldest man, "And that's father...they've been  
  
gone for a long time now..." Although this was really nothing new to  
  
Naruto, he had to wonder at his teammates mental health...come on, the guy  
  
was talking to a fox for one thing...and pointing out his dead parents to  
  
it? Who in their right mind would do that? But anyway who was the guy in  
  
the corner there? Had to be some kind of relative...looks like his  
  
brother...'Okay crazy Sasuke, tell me it's your brother...' But Sasuke did  
  
not say anything more about the picture, only replaced it with another one.  
  
Naruto listened as picture after picture was shown to him...aunts, uncles,  
  
grandparents, cousins, and he accompanied most of them with stories...Naruto  
  
had no idea that Sasuke had such a large family...and yet he lived alone in  
  
this huge mansion. Naruto knew something must have happened to them all,  
  
but he'd never been able to ask his dark haired teammate about it...not  
  
that Sasuke would have answered anyway...  
  
At long last Sasuke turned to a picture of him and his almost clone...the  
  
guy had to be his older brother, no question about it. Sasuke looked about  
  
8 while his older brother looked...well, older, almost an adult at  
  
least...Naruto could feel the tension in Sasuke's body as they looked at the  
  
picture. He could not fathom what was wrong, they both looked happy...well  
  
Sasuke did, the older guy was looking annoyed. Without warning though,  
  
Sasuke took the picture in his hands and tore it in half!  
  
Naruto stared, struck dumb as Sasuke continued to rip the half of the  
  
picture that held his brother. Small squares of paper floated down to land  
  
on the floor, but Sasuke didn't stop until it had been completely destroyed.  
  
Naruto looked up and saw Sasuke had tears in his eyes again...but they  
  
were angry tears this time.  
  
With the picture in shreds on the floor and bed, Naruto whined at Sasuke,  
  
whose eyes were squeezed shut as if trying to prevent the tears form coming.  
  
Not getting a response from the distraught Sasuke, he whined again and put  
  
his paws up on Sasuke's chest. All of Naruto's evil schemes seemed to fly  
  
out the window as he watched his arch-rival, his nemesis, break down into  
  
bitter tears.  
  
Naruto didn't know what to do...if he'd been human he would probably have  
  
smacked him and called him a wimp...but if he was himself he was sure Sasuke  
  
would never let his weak side show...it scared Naruto that behind that stone  
  
cold mask there was hidden a Sasuke which held so much pain...  
  
He didn't want to see Sasuke cry anymore...it hurt to watch it. Somewhere  
  
in the back of his mind he wished he was back to normal so he could hold him  
  
and tell him not to cry...but that was ridiculous and he was a fox so he  
  
just tried to nuzzle Sasuke to take his mind off the pain.  
  
Sasuke sniffed and tried to blink the tears away as the small fox nuzzled  
  
his cheek, it was almost like the animal was attempting to give him a hug  
  
and tell him not to cry anymore. Wiping his tear-stained cheeks, Sasuke  
  
wrapped his arms around the fox's middle and buried his face into the orange  
  
fur for the second time that day.  
  
The fox snuggled closer and made a soothing cooing sound, and Sasuke took a  
  
deep breath, breathing in the smell of his strawberry shampoo in the now dry  
  
fur, and opened his eyes. He looked down at the scattered remains of the  
  
picture on the floor but with the animal there to comfort him...suddenly it  
  
didn't feel quite so painful anymore.  
  
Sighing, Sasuke got off the bed and cleaned up the mess on the floor,  
  
crying never helped anything, it never brought his parents back, it didn't  
  
ease the pain in his heart. Finally having finished picking up the  
  
scattered remains and depositing them into the garbage, Sasuke sat back  
  
down on his bed, only to have the little fox jump into his lap and coo at  
  
him.  
  
He smiled and reached out to pet the animal's head. It cooed and curled up  
  
comfortably in his lap, allowing him to stroke it's fur quietly. It was  
  
kind of amazing how it seemed to understand what he was feeling...  
  
He glanced back over at the box and the corner of a picture caught his eye.  
  
Naruto hoped he wasn't going to bring out another picture of his brother  
  
to destroy...Sasuke had just stopped crying he didn't want to have to go  
  
through that again, but instead Sasuke pulled out the picture of his team.  
  
Naruto's eyes widened a little...he didn't even think Sasuke had kept his  
  
copy...  
  
But there it was, the four of them smiling...well not smiling,  
  
really...Sakura was and probably their sensei, but both Sasuke and himself  
  
were glaring at each other...well Sasuke looked more annoyed to be standing  
  
in front of the camera with Kakashi's hand on his head while Naruto himself  
  
was just glaring at Sasuke. Naruto really hoped Sasuke wasn't going to have  
  
a fit and tear that picture up as well...  
  
Sasuke's lip twitched into a smile...or was it a smirk? "Look at him..."  
  
He said, jabbing a finger into the photo Naruto's chest. "He's always so  
  
annoyed with me..." He chuckled a little. "You know when I first got  
  
assigned to this team I thought I would hate it." He said for no apparent  
  
reason.  
  
'Yeah like that's changed.' Naruto harrumphed in his mind. Sasuke seemed to  
  
do everything in his power to make Naruto's life that much more unbearable.  
  
Sasuke sighed and shook his head, "I-I don't know what's wrong with me..."  
  
he muttered, catching Naruto's attention again, "I don't mean to piss  
  
him off...but he's so..." Naruto waited, and waited, and waited....'Come  
  
on, Sasuke, what the hell am I that makes you want to piss me off?' Naruto  
  
demanded in his head. He could feel Sasuke's face heat up behind him,  
  
curious, Naruto turned and looked only to see something he thought he would  
  
never see, SASUKE WAS BLUSHING!  
  
TBC…  
  
Gasp! Who would have thought that Sasuke would blush? What is the world  
  
coming to? 


	4. Chapter 3: Run Run as Fast as You Can

GASP! We are BACK!  
  
Bet you thought we were dead, huh? Well…not quite, but close! What with computers dying left and right, and Eimaj getting no sleep at all for days at a time…it's a wonder it even got done at all….

Eimaj: One more thing...I did finish this chapter like....a while ago, and I sent it to our beta reader but for some reason didn't get a reply...I don't know if hotmail was just being a pain and didn't send it or if she's on vacation or what, and I didn't want to bug her about it, so I'll just post it now...sorry if there are typos and other assorted errors in here, I tried, I really did...when I do get it edited I'll just fix it, but it shouldn't be a big deal'  
  
Anyway, on with the story.  
  
Foxed! Summary: Due to a freakish accident while spying on Sasuke, Naruto is now sporting a fluffy orange tail with matching ears! Warnings: OOC syndrome…although we were going for that so…yeah… This story should be tame compared to our other ones…but we're not making any promises! Also it is Yaoi! You have been warned! Pairings: SasuNaru!!! So there!!! Rating: PG13…for now…if we don't lose our minds in the process of writing…again… Chapter 4: Run, run as fast as you can.  
  
Sasuke sighed and shook his head, "I-I don't know what's wrong with me..." he muttered, catching Naruto's attention again, "I don't mean to piss him off...but he's so..." Naruto waited, and waited, and waited....'Come on, Sasuke, what the hell am I that makes you want to piss me off?' Naruto demanded in his head. He could feel Sasuke's face heat up behind him, curious, Naruto turned and looked only to see something he thought he would never see, SASUKE WAS BLUSHING!  
  
His eyes widened and all he could do was stare. Yes he was blushing...but it wasn't one of those little faint reddening of the cheeks he got whenever Naruto yelled at him or challenged him or did something particularely annoying that made him mad...this redness had spread across his entire face, and was even creeping up into his ears. What the hell could have made him blush like that? And he'd been talking about Naruto at the time, what the hell?  
  
Naruto found himself blushing too underneath his fur…no Sasuke was NOT BLUSHING OVER HIM! Wasnotwasnotwasnot! He turned his head away and looked back at the picture. Damn, Sasuke had more layers then a frigging damn Onion!...meh he hated onions...  
  
Sasuke sighed and put the picture back in to the box and closed the lid, Naruto could tell his face was sill red and he didn't even have to look at his rival to know...the heat radiated off of him like a lit candle or hot ramen.  
  
"Come on, Naruto it's time for bed..." Sasuke muttered, as he put the lid back on the box and slid it under the bed again. Apparantly the subject of why he made Naruto angry was over...although right now the blonde turned fox really was afraid to know...what if he had been blushing over him? Naruto pushed that thought out of his mind...he didn't want to think about it, and refused to admit that it could be true. Sasuke reached over and shut off the light.  
  
Not wanting to be too close to Sasuke at the time though, Naruto sniffed around the bed for a place to sleep. He wasn't sure why Sasuke had blushed... but he did not want to get too close to him. Unfortunately, every place he tried to lay down had a lump....probably Sasuke's feet under the blanket and Naruto was getting kind of annoyed about it so finally he plunked himself down as far away from Sasuke's feet as he could...unfortunately he was now sleeping right up near the bastard's head...  
  
Naruto sighed and curled up in a ball, placing his head on his paws as he tried to fall asleep. He'd almost succeeded too, when Sasuke started to squirm in his sleep. Naruto lifted his head and blinked sleepily at Sasuke, wondering what the hell was wrong with him. He was whimpering and squirming...how was a guy supposed to sleep through that?  
  
"Mo...mother...father..." Sasuke muttered. Naruto watched as tears leaked from Sasuke's eyes to soak into the pillows...so that's where that smell had come from...Sasuke had nightmares and cried in his sleep...  
  
Gee, who would have thought the great Uchiha Sasuke was a crybaby. Naruto would have snickered if the situation had been funny. But as it was, knowing that Sasuke cried over his parents seemed to reinforce the fact that Sasuke was human after all.  
  
Naruto inched closer to Sasuke as he muttered again in his sleep. "D-don't go....don't l-leave..."  
  
Naruto touched Sasuke's cheek with his nose, and the Uchiha's face twitched a little. "...D-don't leave me..." Sasuke continued to mutter. "  
  
If Naruto had thought he'd been shocked by the events of that day, he was totally unprepared for that He sat there, still as a statue as Sasuke groaned and turned over on his side, reaching for the other side of the bed in his sleep.  
  
Naruto could only stare in shock as Sasuke tried to reach for someone who was not there. 'Sasuke said my name right? It was my NAME! NO! It couldn't be…maybe a name that sounded like Naruto right? Right? Come on Stupid mind agree with me!'  
  
But Naruto could not agree with his own lie, he had heard it, and now he knew! He knew who Sasuke was into! Who Sasuke DREAMED about!...well, other then his mom and dad, but still! Sasuke...Uchiha SASUKE dreamed about HIM!  
  
Naruto looked around frantically, then turned to stare in horror at Sasuke's face again. The other boy groped in the dark one more time before giving up...more tears leaked from his eyes...  
  
'This is not happening....this is so not happening...' Naruto tried to convince himself and realized that he couldn't face it. He couldn't stay here and face Sasuke in the morning when he knew...He was afraid of what would happen...he had to get out of there!  
  
Naruto tried to creep quietly away from Sasuke, he did not want to wake him up...nooo there would be no escaping then. Finally making it to the edge of the bed, he jumped down…it wasn't a long drop but he still landed hard on his backside. But as soon as the fox had righted himself he made a mad dash for the door...thank god Sasuke had left it open.  
  
He dashed out the bedroom door, and through the house, trying desperately to find some way to escape the house and get away...get away and hide...  
  
At last he found an open window and dashed through that, and out into the world outside. It was cold...he paid it no heed.  
  
The sky was overcast...a low rumbling told him that a storm was on it's way, but all he could think of was Sasuke's blushing face...the sound of his voice saying his name as he slept...Naruto had no idea what was going on, the world had just toppled over on him and he felt about ready to fall off. He didn't even feel the first drops of rain that fell on him and soaked into his fur as he ran blindly through the streets.  
  
It was raining hard, whoever said that the weather man can read the weather? This was definitely not in his forecast! Naruto's fur was soaked now, and he was cold and tired...how long had he been running? And were the hell was he anyway? He stopped running and flopped down where he was in a mud puddle...this was not the brightest idea he'd ever had… 'yeah let's go run out into a storm just cuz Sasuke cries your name in his sleep and...stuff...  
  
He shivered and tried to curl up into a ball to keep warm...unfortunately his fur was soaked right through so nothing could give him comfort. He longed for the warmth of his home...or Sasuke's home...or Sasuke himself... Yeah he knew he wasn't thinking straight but he didn't care...  
  
"Well would you look at that?" A familiar voice asked, and hands reached down to pull him out of the mud.  
  
Naruto blinked and stared into the ...eye of his teacher, he was too tired and cold to care what the man was doing out in the middle of the night anyway.  
  
"I thought Sasuke was supposed to be taking care of you... Right, Naruto?" Kakashi asked, and Naruto's eyes widened in horror, Kakashi KNEW! HE KNEW! He knew that he was a fox! Then why the hell didn't he tell Iruka-sensei or Sasuke?  
  
Naruto could tell his teacher was smirking behind the mask. "Ah I see, something must have happened." He nodded his head knowingly. "I can see we're going to have to have a little talk..." He tucked Naruto the fox under his arm and walked into a building.  
Naruto just hung there as Kakashi stepped under a roof and the rain stopped pelting on him. This was the worst day of his life and...he sniffed the air. And...how was he going to go on knowing that....that....was that ramen he smelled?  
  
It was the noodle Bar! What the hell was Kakashi doing taking him to the noodle bar? Of course, Naruto couldn't ask Kakashi because he was still a little fox...a soaked little fox with lots of problems. Kakashi sat down on one of the stools and placed Naruto on the counter before ordering two bowls of hot ramen for him and the fox. The ramen guy behind the counter looked at him oddly but didn't complain.  
  
"So what happened?" Kakashi asked at length, while they waited for their ramen to come. Naruto shook his fur and narrowed his eyes at Kakashi. He knew Kakashi knew very well that he couldn't talk in this state, so why the hell was he bothering to ask?  
"Ah, cat got your tongue?" Kakashi asked evilly and Naruto glared. "Alright alright we'll play 20 questions...Did Sasuke kick you out?"  
  
Naruto sighed and shook his head... at lest he could answer that way...although it was going to be kind hard to explain why he had run away in the first place when all he could do was nod or shake his head.  
  
"Hummm... okay so did you run out on your own?" was Kakashi's next question and this time Naruto nodded his head, he was feeling too cold and shocked to lie anyway.  
  
"Ok...why...?" Kakashi thought about it for a minute. "Did Sasuke hurt you or something?" He asked. Naruto shook his head. "Did he say something mean?" Again a no. Kakashi was silent for a moment as the ramen was brought over and placed in front of them. He waited until the ramen guy left, and watched Naruto's reaction...he dipped his head into the bowl and licked at the broth, but didn't seem like he was truly enjoying it...this was big, he realized, and leaned forward. "Did he tell you how he felt?" He whispered.  
  
So shocked by the question, Naruto turned to look at Kakashi, eyes wide...unfortunately, his wet fur had dripped water onto the countertop, and he nearly fell off, his feet trying to stay upright form the sudden motion. Kakashi caught hold of him before his student turned animal could fall off and hurt himself some more.  
  
He lifted the wet fox up to eye level and looked at him. "So that's it..." He said thoughtfully. "It's nothing to run away from you know."  
  
'Yeah, your not the one that has to deal with it...' Naruto mumbled miserably to himself. He didn't know what he was supposed to think...how he was supposed to react.  
  
"Don't think too badly of Sasuke, Naruto." Kakashi told him, scratching him behind the ear. Naruto melted again but pulled himself together angrily. 'Why the hell shouldn't I think too badly of Sasuke, anyway?' He thought, 'The guy's a crybaby! And he...well he apparently has feelings... for me...' Naruto blushed and turned away to slurp at his food again... Ramen was the answer to everything!  
  
"You know, anger is a sign of self denial." Kakashi pointed out and Naruto redoubled his efforts to devour the ramen. "Yeah you just don't want to admit that maybe you feel the same way." He shook his head sadly as if he were talking to a hopeless case.  
'Yeah right.' Naruto thought to himself. 'No way in hell could I possibly be in love with that....' He stopped.  
  
Naruto shook his head, he was not! Wasnot! Wasnot! Wasnot! H-he like Sakura right? He really did! He wanted her to be with him, right? Beside him, Kakashi sighed, "Think of it this way, Naruto…who do you think about when you first get up in the morning? Who do you think about when you go to bed at night?" Kakashi looked over at the small fox, "Who would you give you life to see happy?"  
  
Naruto wanted to answer Sakura...but...he knew it wasn't true... The dark haired boy, he realized, was always on his mind...he'd fume over things that he said...gloat to himself over how he'd beaten him but...  
  
What if he could make Sasuke happy? Bring back that smile from so long ago?  
  
Would Naruto die to make that happen?  
  
Sasuke died for him...once...  
  
Beside him, Kakashi slurped up the last of his ramen and placed the bowl down. Naruto looked up at the older man, but Kakashi already had his mask up again....gee he was going to choke one of these days...all because he didn't want anyone to see his face.  
Reaching over, Kakashi scratched Naruto behind the ears again, "You shouldn't keep everything bottled up inside, Naruto." he told the fox before turning to go, but stopped and looked back over his shoulder. "Oh, and watch out for the moon..."  
  
Naruto blinked. 'Huh? What the hell is he talking about, watch out for the moon?' He thought, then shrugged his furry shoulders and devoured the last of his ramen. He hopped off the table and went out the door, ignoring the looks that the ramen bar patrons were giving him. He needed to find somewhere to go to...think this out, he was very confused.  
  
Sasuke groaned in his sleep and sat up... why couldn't he sleep tonight? He had been constantly plagued with nightmares and dreams...it was probably because he had looked at his pictures with the little fox. Turning his head, he looked to see where the little guy was sleeping, but he wasn't there. He reached over and turned on the light as he looked around the room...no the fox was nowhere in his room...but his door was open... Getting up out of bed, Sasuke went to go look for him, hoping he was just trying to eat his shoes or something.  
  
He searched every room of the big house, but there was no sign of the fox...and he'd left that window open again, he must have gone out that way...He winced as thunder shook the skies and the rain already pouring outside increased in intensity...the fox was probably lost out there in this awful weather...  
  
He pulled on a rain coat and grabbed his black umbrella and went out into the storm...it wasn't bad enough he was becoming so worried over Naruto that he couldn't sleep but he'd let a small animal go out into this downpour...  
  
Sasuke was not at all feeling that good, he was constantly worried about Naruto...and now the fox, he really wished he had the courage just to say what he wanted to say to the dobe…yes, dobe...Sasuke wasn't really sure why he kept calling Naruto dobe...it was almost like a pet name or something. Couldn't Naruto figure that out at least? Who else did he give pet names to? definitely not Sakura. 'Damn, this is not helping me find either him or the fox...' Sasuke sighed and tried to think of where a little animal might want to go in a storm.  
  
He jogged through the rain filled streets...he checked the alleyways, trees, and any place where there was an overhanging roof which might provide shelter from the rain. After an hour of searching, however, he was starting to lose hope...the little thing probably had a place to go at night and here he was running around in the rain like a chump...well there was one place he hadn't looked yet...but he didn't really want to go there...if he went to Naruto's apartment and neither of them were there...man his stomach hurt...  
  
Trying to stop himself form agonizing over it, Sasuke set off towards Naruto's apartment. He really hoped the dobe was home...and the fox.. How would he tell Naruto that he had gone and lost his fox? Was the fox even Naruto's? Sighing, Sasuke tried to shut his brain off and just ran through the downpour.  
  
He reached the little apartment building and ran up the stairs to the front door of Naruto's home...how many times had he come up here intending to knock on the door and talk to the dobe before chickening out and running away? Maybe if he had the courage he needed, he could have stopped him from dissapearing...  
  
He shook his head to clear it and knocked loudly on the front door, then waited, heart pounding in his chest. No one answered, however, and he moved to peer through the window on the side...Naruto's apartment was just as Sasuke had left it the day before...and it was dark as a tomb inside...  
  
Dejectedly, Sasuke sunk down onto the stairs that lead up to Naruto's apartment. Why wasn't anyone looking for Naruto? Kakashi said he was going to see the Hokage about this but still no one had seen the dobe... Wasn't anyone looking other then him? And now the fox. Sasuke groaned and rested his head in his hands, he really needed to talk to someone...  
  
He sighed deeply and looked up...and spotted someone that just might help. Iruka was walking slowly through the rain, looking around him. Of course Iruka would look for Naruto, he cared for him like he was the boy's father or older brother or something.  
Without really caring what he was doing, Sasuke stood up and ran over to his former teacher. "Iruka-sensei!" He called, and the brunette blinked and turned to see Sasuke running towards him.  
  
"Sasuke-kun?" Iruka said in surprise, "What are you doing out this late?" he immediately demanded and looked at his watch, "It's 1 in the morning..."  
  
Sasuke sighed "I-I know...but I lost the little fox..." he said feeling very guilty that he wasn't saying what he had intended to...he wanted to ask about Naruto...but again he chickened out.  
  
Iruka was silent for a moment as he stared at Sasuke's bowed head. He was troubled by more than a missing fox and he knew it... "I'll help you look." He spoke out, and Sasuke looked up.  
  
"Th-thank you Iruka-sensei..." He stuttered. He wasn't used to people taking an interest in things that bothered him... He fell into step beside Iruka and stared at the ground, brooding things over in his mind.  
  
As they walked in the rain looking for the small fox...and the fox grinning boy, Iruka sighed and turned to look at Sasuke, "I had a chase to read Naruto's diary..." he said and Sasuke's head shot up, but he tried to keep his hopes from going up as well. "I think he's a bit angry at you, Sasuke..." Iruka told the boy beside him, "He kept calling you a bastard and stuff like that..."  
  
Sasuke groaned inwardly. "Of course he did, he hates me..." He muttered miserably.  
  
"I don't think..." Iruka started, then stopped, as if trying to think of how he wanted to say this. "I don't think he...hates you so much as..." He paused again. "I got the impression that it really hurts him when you say things to him..."  
  
Sasuke blinked...he had not meant for his words to hurt. But he shouldn't have been surprised, he treated Naruto like dirt most of the time and the rest...well he ignored him. Sasuke bit his lip and looked at the muddy ground, he didn't know what to say…he couldn't say he was sorry because he had nothing to be sorry to Iruka for, and with Naurto missing…  
  
"Sasuke..." Iruka stopped walking. Sasuke took a few more steps and stopped as well, and looked back questioningly. "I think...when Naruto comes back you should try to be nice to him, I think he wants to be your friend..." He bit his lip as he carefully chose the next words. "He...cares about you a great deal..."  
  
Sasuke sighed, not looking at Iruka, "I ...I'm sorry," was all he said before running away. Iruka stared after him and sighed, Sasuke and Naruto were both running from each other, he knew that...if only the two boys could figure it out…  
  
Sasuke cursed under his breath as he ran, he was a jerk! Just a jerk and a cowared, that's all he was…all this time, as he tried to deny his feelings from himself, or hide it from Naruto in order to save face...he'd been hurting him! He never wanted to hurt him...ever...  
  
He should have just told him...told him right away and let whatever would have happened happen...all his little charade had accomplished was to hurt both of them.  
He stopped running, and looked around him...he was in the graveyard...how had he gotten there?  
  
Panting heavily, Sasuke slowed to a walk and wandered through the grave stones…yeah this was the perfect scene to fit his mood. As Sasuke walked, a faint whining caught his ears. Hoping for anything to distract himself, he followed the sound, and his eyes widened when he saw the small fox curled up into a little ball underneath one of the graves, shivering form the wet and cold. Heedless of the mud, Sasuke knelt beside the small fox and stroked it's fur.  
  
The fox opened his eyes and looked up at him. It stared up at him for a while with wide blue eyes before it crawled into his lap, still shivering and trying to get as close to him as it could get. Sasuke gathered the little thing into his arms, tucked it into his jacket and ran back to his home. The rain was starting to let up a little and the clouds weren't as thick, but the stars and the moon still could not be seen as Sasuke threw open his front door and sprinted to his room to dry the little fox...he hoped it hadn't gotten sick or something.  
  
Sasuke pulled off his own wet coat and tossed it to the floor as he grabbed a towel form the hamper to dry the small animal. He tried to push the thoughts of Naruto out of his head as he dried the fox, but his eyes kept burning…he wasn't going to cry, he wasn't!  
  
Naruto opened his eyes and look up at Sasuke, who's face was very pale and worried. The beginnings of tears shone in Sasuke's eyes as he blinked them back...the sight of them pierced Naruto's heart...  
  
"You're just as bad as the real Naruto..." Sasuke was muttering as he rubbed the towel all over Naruto's furry body. "...Making me worry..." The tears started to flow again and he wiped them away angrily with his sleeve. "Damn it why won't he just come home?" He choked, as the weight of the whole situation finally fell down around him.  
  
"Damn, damn, damn!" Sasuke cursed behind his hands, trying to control the emotions that were flooding into him.  
  
Naruto blinked and sat up, staring at Sasuke…was the guy really this torn up about him being missing? Well why the hell had he never shown anything close to friendship beforehand? Was Sasuke emotionally handicapped or something? Naruto whined at the other boy, hoping to distract him from the fact that he was ...well missing.  
  
He nuzzled at the other boy's hand and forced Sasuke to look at him. Sasuke blinked his dark eyes at the little fox, who looked up at him in concern. After a moment he took a deep, shaking breath and reached out to touch the fox's soft fur. Breaking down in hysterics was not going to help Naruto get home any faster...in fact nothing probably would, he probably wouldn't come back until he was ready to...  
  
Although that thought did not reassure him all that much, he had to accept it. Sighing, he pulled the still damp fox to him and held him close as he crawled back into bed. There was nothing he could do...except apologize to the blonde when he came home.  
This time Naruto did not try to escape Sasuke's clutches as he held on to him, it wasn't all that bad... plus it was really warm next to the other boy. He snuggled in and got comfortable, as Sasuke's breathing gradually became slow and even as he fell asleep.  
  
Naruto turned his head a little to look out the window. He was glad to be out of the storm, but it seemed to be lessening now...the clouds were even starting to move away from the moon, revealing first a sliver, then most of the round glowing orb. 'Pfft, I don't know what's wrong with Kakashi, the moon isn't scary...' He thought to himself as the last of the clouds moved away to reveal a perfectly round, bright moon.  
  
Naruto nearly squeaked in surprise as he felt the strangest sensation coming over him…wriggling out of Sasuke's grasp, he peered out the window towards the moon that hung quietly in the sky. He could not place the feeling he had, his heart was pounding and his head felt funny. Also his limbs hurt...why did he hurt so much? Gasping for breath, Naruto dropped his eyes from the moon and flopped down on the bed…everything was spinning...  
  
He squeezed his eyes shut as pain washed over his body and he felt sick...he couldn't cry out or he would wake Sasuke...He groaned and slipped off the side of the bed...but it wasn't as far of a fall as it should have been. He waited until the feeling passed and opened his eyes. He was staring at Sasuke's floor...and there was a human hand directly in his field of vision. He backed up to get away from it only to realize...it was his hand...  
  
Naruto blinked and stared down at his hands, HIS HANDS! Not paws or some thing else, but his own human hands! Before he jumped for joy though, he had to make sure...using his human hands, Naruto touched his feet, arms, legs, head, ears, nose, and mouth. He was just about to start jumping for joy when he realized something...where the hell were his clothes?  
He looked around...his clothing wasn't anywhere to be found...what the hell had happened to it? He crawled around on the floor for a minute looking for his clothes but they just were not there. He got to his feet then realized....he was standing naked in Sasuke's bedroom...He found himself blush and he looked around for ANYTHING he could use to hide his shame. Spotting the towel Sasuke had dried him off with, he grabbed that and pulled it around his waist.  
  
Behind him, Sasuke stirred in his sleep and turned over, Naruto froze like a rabbit. 'Sasuke's going to wake up! He's going to wake up and see me standing here in his towel!' But no shocked gasp reached Naruto's ears…the sound of Sasuke's even breathing still filled the room. Naruto chanced a look over his shoulder, and sighed with relief…Sasuke was sill sleeping.  
  
He clutched at his chest, his heart was beating quickly...he knew he should just run out and hope that Sasuke never ever found out that he was the fox he'd been taking care of for the past two days...but Naruto was never one to just do what should be done. He glanced up at the bookshelf where Sasuke's diary was sitting...he could reach it now...  
  
As he pulled the diary form the shelf, another book decided to leap out at him! Naruto's eyes widened with horror as he watched the book fall to the floor, and to his ears as it hit the ground the noise that it made could have woken the dead. With his heart hammering in his throat, Naruto looked over at Sasuke who...thank god, was still sound asleep...well, maybe not sound asleep, the guy was muttering stuff in his sleep again.  
  
That was too close, he thought as he tried to ignore what Sasuke was saying...not that he could understand any of it, but he didn't want to know what would happen if he heard him saying his name again...He had to get out of here, now. He tip toed slowly to the door and turned the handle...it creaked loudly to his ears and he winced and looked backwards again. "Na....to...." Sasuke mumbled and turned back over so he was staring at the other wall. Naruto took a deep breath and turned the knob all the way...he had one chance and one chance only to make a break for it...he held his breath and opened the door, dashing out into the hallway, down the stairs and out the front door trying to make as little noise as possible.  
  
Naruto counted himself lucky it was like 2 or 3 in the morning...he would have died if he ran into anyone with only a towel on. It had stopped raining, but the ground was still muddy and there was a chill in the air. Trying to keep his teeth from chattering, he ran on, hoping that the exercise would keep him warm until he got home.  
  
He rushed up the stairs to his door and turned the knob...or tried to, it wouldn't budge. 'What the hell?' He asked himself angrily then remembered...Sasuke had locked the door when he'd left the apartment! Naruto was locked out of his home, and the only clothing he had was a towel...and it was starting to rain again...He tried desperately to get in through the window but there was no way in, and the manager would be dead asleep by now...what the hell was he supposed to do?  
  
As Naruto began he process of pulling out his hair in frustration, a certain silver haired ninja with one visible eye appeared in front of him in a poof of smoke.  
  
"Ack!" Naruto cried unintelligently as Kakashi appeared before him.  
  
"Tsk, tsk, Naruto…" The older man shook his head, "Didn't I say not to look at the moon?"  
  
Naruto twitched. "You said no such thing!" He cried, pointing at him. "You told me to 'beware the moon' ....how the HELL was I supposed to know what that meant?!"  
  
"It's not my fault your an idiot." Kakashi commented, wagging a finger in Naruto's face. He raised an eyebrow at Naruto's apparel...or lack thereof. "Hmmm is this some kind of new fashion statement I don't know about? I wonder if I could get Iruka to...."  
  
"NO! Nononononnononononnonono! NO!" Naruto yelled, panicking. What was Iruka going to think if the older man knew he was running around the village with nothing but a towel on? He cringed to think of it…"You will NOT tell anyone...please…?" he said meekly and sneezed.  
  
Kakashi raised his eyebrow at that. "Catching a cold are you?" He asked, not even sounding interested, "That's what you get for running around more then half naked."  
  
"Whatever will you just let me into my house?" Naruto demanded and sneezed again, sniffling loudly. He really didn't feel well all of a sudden...  
  
"Here." Kakashi pulled something out of his pocket and tossed it to Naruto, who awkwardly caught it with one hand while holding the towel up with the other. He stared at the keys in his hand...it was the exact pair Sasuke had taken from his home.  
  
"Where did you get these?" Naruto demanded.  
  
"Iruka wasn't looking so I took them, figured someone was going to have to water your plants..." Kakashi commented, sounding bored.  
  
Naruto glared at him and stalked past him, opening the door and slamming it shut in his teacher's face.  
  
With the door firmly closed in his teacher's face, Naruto leaned against the door and sighed, he was home...and he was back to normal! He wanted to jump for joy again but his head was feeling dizzy, probably because he'd changed back to himself... dumb moon, dumb Kakashi, dumb Sas...dumb hormones...  
  
Naruto sighed and went to go crawl into his PJ's and go to bed…he was very tired...hmm, bed....should have shower first....  
  
He walked around in a daze as he showered and changed, ate something that was still ok in the fridge, and finally crawled into his nice comfy bed. He felt more tired than he had in a long time...his face felt hot and his head swam. Hoping that it would pass by the morning, he closed his eyes and fell asleep immediately.  
  
Naruto blinked as he opened his eyes...which had decided to glue themselves shut during the night…and what was that pounding in his head? It sounded like someone was trying to break into his skull. After a few more minutes of pounding, he could hear the shrill voice of Sakura, "Naruto! Kakashi-sensei told me you were home! Now get up and answer the damn DOOR!"  
  
TBC… Fear Evil Sakura! She's coming to break down Naruto's door! SOOOO Sorry for talking sooooo long to update. Oy, what a long and painful few weeks it has been….  
Anyway The story's a little bit longer then usual, hope you like.  
Please R and R.


	5. Chapter 5: The Cat Came Back

Foxed!

Summary: Due to a freakish accident while spying on Sasuke, Naruto is now sporting a fluffy orange tail with matching ears!

Warnings: OOC syndrome…although we were going for that so…yeah… This story should be tame compared to our other ones…but we're not making any promises!

Also it is Yaoi! You have been warned!

Pairings: SasuNaru!!! So there!!!

Rating: PG13…for now…if we don't lose our minds in the process of

writing…again…

Chapter 5

Naruto blinked as he opened his eyes; eyes which had decided to glue themselves shut during the night…and what was that pounding in his head? It sounded like someone was trying to break into his skull.

After a few more minutes of pounding, he could hear the shrill voice of Sakura yelling, "Naruto! Kakashi-sensei told me you were home! Now get up and answer the damn DOOR!"

----

Naruto opened one eye, then the other eye and rubbed at them...they were full of disgusting crap...his throat hurt and his head throbbed painfully. He groggily threw his legs over the side of the bed and got to his feet. He had no idea what was going on, nor did he care... He wobbled to the door and pulled it open.

"There you are!" Sakura yelled at him and he winced, the shrillness of her voice felt like it was stabbing right into his brain.

"What do you want...?" He asked, his voice hoarse.

Sakura humphed and rested her hands on her hips, "Because you were missing, we had to cancel all our missions and everything." she told him with a glare, which did nothing to Naruto since he was still half asleep and sick. "Now that you're back, I'm not going to miss my chance to see Sasuke-kun today, so get some clothing on before I drag you out there in your pj's."

"But Sakura-chan..." Naruto complained, but she glared dangerously at him. Naruto sighed. "Fine..." He closed the door in her face and went to his room to change. He almost tripped on a few things on the floor and had put his shirt on backwards at first, but at last he appeared back at the door wearing his clothing and looking like the walking dead. He didn't protest as Sakura grabbed his arm and dragged him out the door and down the street...although he would have much preferred to stay home today...

At least it wasn't raining anymore, but it was still cloudy and fit the way Naruto felt at that very moment as Sakura dragged him to the meeting place. Only vaguely aware of what was going on, Naruto looked up when Sakura let go of his arm and made a squealing noise which could only translate into "Good morning, Sasuke-kun!" Hearing the other boy's name, Naruto's face went red and not just from the fever.

Sasuke looked up from where he'd been leaning on the railing. He noticed Sakura for a split second before Naruto filled his field of vision...he was back? But he didn't look too good. Remaining silent, he pushed away from the bridge railing and approached the two of them.

Sakura's eyes sparkled as Sasuke approached her. This was it, he was going to admit that she was the only one for him and, and…and he walked right past her.

Sasuke stopped in front of Naruto. He looked sick...his face was really flushed. Without even saying 'hello' or 'welcome back, dobe', Sasuke reached out and placed his hand on Naruto's brow. Eyes widening at the touch, Naruto tried to back away, but his feet wouldn't obey him. The only thing he managed was to sway a little and reach out for something to hold himself upright.

His hand closed around Sasuke's arm and his head pitched forward slightly against Sasuke's other hand. Sasuke blushed slightly, but kept hold of his calm composure.

"What do you think you're doing, coming out here with a fever, dobe?" He asked. Naruto only grunted in response. He couldn't think through his fogged head and the overwhelming smell of Sasuke that permeated his air supply.

Sasuke was unprepared when Naruto practically passed out in his arms. Grabbing hold of Naruto around the waist with one of his arms still holding onto the blonde's wrist, Sasuke was very aware of the scene they must have made. Behind him, Sakura gasped but sighed in relief, for some reason, as he lowered Naruto to the ground. Naruto shivered where he laid and was burning to the touch.

"Geeze..." He muttered to himself and pulled a handkerchief from his pocket and running to the stream to dip it into the cold water. He ran back to Naruto and put the damp cloth on his forehead. "Damn it, Sakura, why did you drag him out here like this?" He demanded. He knew he shouldn't be angry with her...but he was so frustrated and worried and the only emotion he knew how to display in public was anger.

"G-gomen Sasuke-kun..." Sakura apologized, not knowing what else do to when Sasuke yelled at her. She stood by and watched Sasuke bathe Naruto's burning head. Why did Naruto have to steal all of Sasuke's attention, he stole the dark haired teen's attention when they were training together, Sasuke was always there to save Naruto when he was about to die, or at least fall on his ass... It just wasn't fair.

Sasuke cursed, he had to get Naruto out of this weather before it started to rain again. Throwing his nervousness away for worry for the other boy, he reached down and scooped the unconscious Naruto up into his arms and stood up. Naruto was surprisingly light...

He looked around, and decided that his home was closer than Naruto's. He had to get some medicine or something in him quick before he burst into flames or something, he was radiating too much heat. Without a word to Sakura he dashed off with the blonde in his arms.

Sakura was about to run after him, but Kakashi appeared in front of her, "K-Kakashi-sensei!" she squeaked in surprise. "S-Sasuke-kun. H-he..." she stuttered, trying to tell her teacher what Sasuke had done, which was run away with Naruto in his arms, bridal style...that thought disturbed Sakura to no end.

Kakashi, however, just nodded his head, "Yes, I know, Sakura. Don't worry about it."

"But..." Sakura stuttered.

"It's alright, just go home, they'll be fine." Kakashi told her, then his eye hardened slightly, knowing that she would try to meddle if given the chance. "That's an order." He disappeared and Sakura was left to stalk home and mutter to herself.

----

Naruto opened his eyes...his head still hurt and he squinted at the light hanging above him. Blinking, he forced himself to sit up and look around...where was he?

Looking around, Naruto felt he should know where he was...everything looked so familiar, it was scary... As his gaze drifted over objects in the room, Naruto heard a cough from behind him. Whipping his head around to see who was there, Naruto immediately regretted it as he was hit with a dizzy spell. Before he could fall over, though, he felt a hand on his shoulder, holding him in place.

Naruto blinked and tried to clear his vision as the hand made sure he didn't fall again. Once his head cleared, he turned it much more slowly to see who was there... Sasuke was standing beside him holding a small tray in his free hand, which had a little bottle, a spoon, and a glass of water on it.

"Sasuke?" He asked groggily, as it slowly clicked in his mind. He was in Sasuke's room! What the hell was he doing there?!

Sasuke didn't say anything for a moment, then sat down on the bed beside Naruto and poured some of the red liquid from the bottle in the spoon and held it out for Naruto. "Here take this, it should make you feel better..."

Naruto blinked at the red liquid. What? Was Sasuke trying to poison him now?

Sasuke saw the doubt in Naruto's face…heck, the guy was sick, it was like reading a book.

"It's not poison." Sasuke said and was mildly amused at the look of disbelief on Naruto's face, but when it wouldn't go away, he started to get a little annoyed. "Look, do you want me to force feed you, or what?" He asked, wincing inwardly at how mean that must have sounded.

Naruto looked at him for a moment, eyes slightly widened before he ducked his head slightly and took the spoon from him. He examined the red liquid dejectedly before putting the spoon in his mouth. He immediately turned red and swallowed, then made choking sounds. "Ugh...that stuff's nasty!" He cried, reaching desperately for the water. Sasuke placed it in his hands and Naruto downed the whole thing in half a second.

Still choking on the nasty taste, Naruto glared up at Sasuke, "W-What is that… t-that disgusting stuff?" he asked, sucking on his tongue to get rid of the taste.

Sasuke sighed, "It's supposed to help you get better." He told him in a way that suggested Naruto couldn't figure that out on his own. Naruto stopped sucking on his tongue and glared at Sasuke, but he dropped his eyes a moment later when he remembered the night before when he found out Sasuke… liked him.

Sasuke blinked when Naruto didn't yell at him, or call him bastard, or anything like that and just stared at his hands, face growing slightly red. This was unusual even if Naruto did have a fever. He sighed, he'd probably hurt his feelings again...he wanted to say he was sorry...he wanted to say a lot of things, but whenever he opened his mouth something rude came out.

So instead, Sasuke sighed and picked up the tray, "Are you hungry at all?" he asked. Naruto shook his head, still staring at his hands as Sasuke nodded his head and carried the tray away. Before he left though, he turned and asked, "N-Naruto...did y- did a fox come to visit you last night?"

If anything, Naruto's face turned redder, but he shook his head.

"Oh....never mind then..." Sasuke left the room and closed the door quietly after him. Naruto stared at the closed door and fell backwards onto the pillow, closing his eyes, and cursing himself. Now Sasuke missed the fox...and he couldn't string two words together without getting red faced and tongue tied and...

And it kind of scared him that the whole time Sasuke had been there all he had wanted to do was curl up in his lap where he knew it was warm and comforting...but he wasn't a fox anymore so he couldn't…

----

Sasuke cursed to himself as he kicked at the door of his kitchen, he was such an ass. He had Naruto lying sick in his bed and he couldn't say one damned apology to him! Plus that little fox was missing...was it actually Naruto's fox? Sasuke didn't think so now…even if Naruto was sick, shouldn't he remember his pet? As Sasuke brooded to himself, he did not realize that Kakashi was now standing behind him, until the older man cleared his throat.

Sasuke whirled around and glared at Kakashi. If looks could kill, the man would have been lying in a smoldering heap right now...

"Hi there." Kakashi grinned underneath the mask. "I just thought I should tell you that you shouldn't worry about that little fox of yours, he's in good hands right now."

Sasuke blinked. How did he know about that? "Um...ok..." He answered, confused.

Kakashi grinned at him again before waving good bye and disappearing in a puff of smoke, leaving Sasuke blinking in confusion. After a moment of just staring at the place where Kakashi had been standing, Sasuke sighed and went to the fridge. Even if Naruto was not hungry, he was...and it wouldn't hurt to have something prepared for **when** Naruto was hungry.

He pulled stuff out of his fridge to make something for lunch that would be good for Naruto to try and get rid of his cold. He brooded some more as he chopped vegetables and dropped them into the boiling water for soup, and made a conviction...the next time he saw Naruto he was going to apologize for years of horrible manners and backstabbing remarks...he clutched his hand into a fist. He would do this even if it killed him...

"Sasuke?" Naruto's sleepy voice said from behind him and Sasuke jumped, almost dropping his spoon in the soup pot. He clutched it to him and whirled around, red faced.

"Wh-what?" He demanded.

Naruto flinched at the angry tone. "Um...I was gonna ask if I could use your bathroom, but never mind..." He turned to leave, he didn't want to make Sasuke any more angry at him than he already was.

Sasuke visibly winced when Naruto turned his back and was about to drag himself back upstairs, 'Damn it, stop him! There's no cat attached to your tongue, is there?'

"N-Naruto, wait..." Sasuke managed to get out of his mouth, and although it was barely a whisper, Naruto had actually heard him. Turning back to look at Sasuke, Naruto's eyes widened when he saw the blush on the other boys cheeks. "N-Naruto...I..." Sasuke started to say but bit his lip again.

Naruto blushed himself and backed away a little. Sasuke wasn't going to… to tell him how he felt, was he? Damn it, he wasn't ready to actually hear the words come out of the other boy's mouth, he hadn't sorted out what he himself was feeling, how was he supposed to give any kind of an answer?

So he took the only course of action available to him...he turned tail and ran out of there before Sasuke could say a word.

Sasuke blinked as Naruto ran out of the room…he had run away... Sasuke didn't even have a chance to apologize to the blonde at all. Dejectedly, Sasuke sank to the kitchen floor, the fact that Naruto had run away was proof enough…the blonde hated him, that's all there was to it.

----

Naruto wasn't watching where he was going as he ran away from Sasuke, although Naruto did not run out of the house, he did find himself standing in Sasuke's room looking around very confused...how had he gotten there?

He stumbled inside and fell onto the bed, tears stinging his eyes. He shouldn't have run...he should have stayed there and let Sasuke tell him...maybe he wasn't even going to say what he thought he was going to, but how was he to know now? He groaned and turned his head... and a small book lying beside him caught his eye. He blinked, tears forgotten as he reached for it and got into a sitting position on the bed...it was Sasuke's diary, but what was it doing there? Hadn't he stolen it the night before?

Naruto looked around the room suspiciously…no, there was no one there...and he knew he had not imagined stealing the book last night...the book that had decided to attack him was still lying on the floor beside the book shelf. A light breeze gusted across Naruto's still fevered skin, and, turning his head to look at the open window, Naruto nearly had a heart attack when he saw Kakashi sitting there. But the older man was gone in a puff of smoke before Naruto could blink.

Kakashi? What was he...Naruto blinked. 'He must have left the diary here!' He thought. 'Then...then he probably wants me to read it....so it's ok if I read it right? Right?' For once his mind agreed with him and he pulled the book open to a random page to see what was written in Sasuke's secret diary... Somewhere, deep down inside, he wanted to know what Sasuke really felt about him...

TBC…


	6. Chapter 6: Pandora's Box

Well here's a new chapter for you rabid readers out there who have been clogging my email with messages asking to update. Sorry it took so long, but, as always, stuff came up and...well I'm lazy. Your just gonna have to deal with it. Anyway hope you enjoy it and please review

Foxed!

Summary: Due to a freakish accident while spying on Sasuke, Naruto is now sporting a fluffy orange tail with matching ears!

Warnings: OOC syndrome…although we were going for that so…yeah… This story should be tame compared to our other ones…but we're not making any promises!

Also, it is Yaoi! You have been warned!

Pairings: SasuNaru! So there!

Rating: PG13…for now…if we don't lose our minds in the process of writing…again…

Chapter 6- Pandora's box

Kakashi? What was he... Naruto blinked. 'He must have left the diary here!' He thought. 'Then- then he probably wants me to read it… so it's ok if I read it, right? Right?' For once, his mind agreed with him and he pulled the book open to a random page to see what was written in Sasuke's secret diary. Somehow, deep down inside, he wanted to know what Sasuke really felt about him...

Flipping to a random page, Naruto was kind of surprised to see that the date read 'October 10'. What had Sasuke written on his birthday? Curiosity killed the cat, but Naruto was a fox if anything, so he began to read. 'Blah blah, blah, weather…sunny, Blah blah blah Sakura being a pain...couldn't even remember Naruto's birthday...bla-' Naruto stopped and re-read the stuff he had just skimmed.

'Today is Naruto's birthday, wish Sakura had stopped clinging to me so I could give the blonde his gift…as it was I didn't get the chance to even wish him a happy birthday. Damn Sakura... At least Iruka took him out for ramen, so its not like he's all alone. Wish I could be there...'

Naruto sat there and blinked... Sasuke had wanted to spend time with him on his birthday?

He blinked again. 'Wait...Sasuke got me a gift!' He thought frantically. He'd never received anything from Sasuke in his life! Maybe he was lying...but why would he lie in his own diary?

He flipped to the next page, October 11th...

After the weather was written down and some random stuff that had no point, he got to the part he wanted to know.

'I put Naruto's present away with the others in my closet. His Christmas present is in there, as well as the Valentine's chocolate I never gave him. It's probably stale by now, but I can't bring myself to throw it away...'

Naruto stared at the book, then looked at the closet, then back at the book, 'What the hell?' he asked mentally 'Sasuke got me...Valentine's chocolate?' he wondered, confused. 'And a Christmas present?' He was not entirely convinced though... Although from what he'd seen of Sasuke's display of emotions while he was a fox, well nothing should have surprised him.

Curiosity got the better of him and he climbed off the bed and pulled the closet door open and looked around. Nothing but clothes and training equipment. Sighing, he looked up at the ceiling in frustration, and something caught his eye on the top shelf. Grabbing hold of the edge he pulled himself up and his eyes widened. Sure enough there were three small packages lying there, collecting dust.

It was just as Sasuke had written. Why had he kept them after all these...okay, so it wasn't years, maybe only one, but it was still a long time to keep something that was not going to be given to the person it was intended for. Naruto debated whether he should open the presents or not. They were his after all…but Sasuke had not given them to him yet so maybe he shouldn't...

He reached out a hand and touched the package nearest to him...but he couldn't do it. It would probably hurt Sasuke to know that he'd been reading his diary and that he'd taken the presents he'd never had a chance to give him...He lowered himself down and plunked cross legged on the floor, picking up the diary again. The page he was on had been lost and it had flipped backwards quite a ways.

Naruto looked at the date...boy that was going back a ways. Must have been written just after they got back from the country of the Waves. Right after... When Sasuke had shielded him with his own body form Haku's flying needles.

'Blah blah, blah, back from my first away mission...have decided never to take up crafts... too many needles not good. More blah, blah, blah...Think I've fallen for the dobe...I don't know what else these emotions are that burn in me when ever I see that blonde...'

Naruto stared at the words for a moment before swallowing and moving on. 'I guess I didn't want to understand what they were before, but the dobe went and got himself into a situation and...I just couldn't let him die, I jumped in front of it, took the needles and fell into some stupid fake death. I didn't know I could do that for another person before. I don't think I would for anyone else, all I could think of was him... I think the world would be empty without him...'

Naruto sighed and closed the book, he never knew Sasuke thought so much of him... Who would have thought that Sasuke would mourn his death, that the world would be empty without him there? No one had ever said those words to him... Well, Iruka had jumped in front of him just before he graduated, blocking a lethal attack from a huge throwing shuriken.

Naruto put the book down by his feet, staring at it.

The book lay there, unaware that it had just leaked confidential secrets to the only person whose opinion Sasuke cared about. Naruto could hardly breath. His chest hurt and it overshadowed the pain in his head. All he'd ever wanted was for someone to acknowledge him...someone to care whether he existed or not. Iruka had provided that to some degree, but it wasn't the same. What if...what if he had someone who actually...loved him? What if he could love that person back?

What if he could love Sasuke?

His heart quickened at the thought of himself in Sasuke's arms...the other boy's lips on his...but was he only thinking about it because he didn't want to be alone anymore?

Naruto sighed and drew his knees up to his chest and rested his head on them, he was so confused. What did he feel for the other boy? Was it actually love or just a desperate need to latch onto someone who cared about him? Sasuke's own diary and secret thoughts told him the boy loved him, but why couldn't he treat Naruto better than he had?

Sasuke's personality, of course...he was about as emotional and cool as a cucumber most of the time, and the only emotion he'd ever really shown before this whole thing started was anger. He didn't know how to express himself any other way. He'd said it himself, he didn't know why he was rude to Naruto and made him angry...

'Damn it, how am I going to figure this out?' Naruto thought miserably and hung his head, staring at the little diary at his feet. He hardly heard the light knock on the door.

The knock came again, accompanied by Sasuke's voice this time "Naruto? A-are you hungry? I made some soup if you want it..." The door knob slowly began to turn, Sasuke was coming in! Naruto looked frantically around for an escape. He couldn't face Sasuke right now! Not after just reading the guy's diary! Panicking, Naruto looked over to the open window that Kakashi had used to drop off Sasuke's diary.

Sasuke opened the door and stepped in to find the room empty. The window was open and a cold breeze was coming through it. He hastily put the tray down and ran to the window, just in time to see Naruto dash around a corner and out of sight...he couldn't tell from this distance, but it almost looked like he was...crying? No...that couldn't be possible, he must have imagined it. He sighed and pulled the window closed and turned around. His closet was open...and a very familiar book was lying open on the floor beside it.

Fear gripped Sasuke heart. Had Naruto read his diary? From the way things looked, yeah Sasuke was pretty positive that Naruto had read it... Sasuke cursed himself for even keeping the stupid thing. Didn't Kakashi say that ninjas shouldn't keep a diary or journal? Sinking to the floor, Sasuke buried his head in his hands, Naruto knew! He had to, why else would he run away like that?

He glanced at the open page and his fears were realized. It was the entry from right after he'd gotten back from the Wave country...and it was written there plain as the nose on his face 'I think I've fallen for the dobe...' There was no doubt that Naruto knew...it was all over. There was no way he could even hope to warm Naruto up to him now, he probably thought he was some kind of sicko or something and would never want to talk to him again...

Sasuke sighed and hung his head, it was over before it had even began.

Naruto heart raced as he ran to the only person he could think of for help, the only person he could really rely on, who would not have laugh at him or play match maker... Naruto nearly tripped as he ran up the flight of stares and knocked, more like pounded on Iruka's door.

For one frantic moment, he feared that his teacher wouldn't be home. That he would be left alone with these jumbled thoughts in his mind. He didn't want to think about what he would do, he was scared to death. To his immense relief, however, the door opened and Iruka blinked down at him, then his eyes went wide.

"Naruto!" He cried. "Where have you..." He stopped when the blonde boy suddenly threw himself onto him, shivering.

Staring down at the boy in shock, Iruka blinked, confused, "N-Naruto? What happened? What's wrong?" His teacher managed to ask, but all Naruto could do was shake his head and cling tighter. Sighing, Iruka wrapped his arms around the boy's shoulders and lifted him up a little so that Iruka wouldn't be dragging the poor boy into his home.

He put Naruto on his couch and ran into the kitchen to get him something to wipe his eyes with, he looked like he'd been crying. Handing him the napkin, Naruto took it but didn't say anything.

"Naruto...what happened? You know you can tell me." Iruka prodded. He knew that it would probably help if the boy got it out and maybe he could do something to help him.

Naruto sniffled and looked up. "Iruka-sensei, I..." He began, then choked. "I'm so confused..." He finished and hung his head.

Iruka sighed and smiled a little, "It's all right to be confused Naruto." he said, laying a hand on the boy's head, "Sometimes it helps to talk it out though." Under his hand Iruka felt Naruto nod his head ever so slightly before looking up at his mentor. "I-Iruka sensei... I-I think Sa.. someone likes me... but I don't know if I like them back...or..." Naruto hiccupped and blushed as he stared up at Iruka with confusion written in his bright eyes.

Iruka looked down at him for a minute, then smiled. Naruto was coming to him for advice on love? It kind of made him feel good that the boy put so much faith in him, so he thought about it... He had to give Naruto the best advice that he could, even though he was no expert on the subject.

"Well...how do you feel when this person is around?" He asked after a moment.

Naruto shrugged and wiped at his eyes, "I-I don't know... I guess I-I feel that I can depend on h...them..." Naruto said after some time, trying not to mention that it was another guy that liked him... what would Iruka-sensei think it he found out? "B-But he... They're a bit of an ass..." Naruto bit his lip...was that describing Sasuke a little too closely?

"So they treat you badly?" Iruka asked, politely ignoring the near slips of the tongue and not voicing any ideas he had about who it was Naruto was talking about.

"Well h-they...call me names and stuff all the time..." Naruto explained.

Iruka smiled. "Well you know sometimes people do that to the person they like to hide the fact that they like them..." He told Naruto.

Naruto blinked "They do?" he asked completely dumbfounded. Iruka sighed and nodded his head, "Yes, Naruto, sometimes people are afraid of what they are feeling and what other might think if they knew, so they hide it. It might seem kind of mean, but sometimes, the only way a person can be with a person without letting anyone know that they like them is to fight with them."

Naruto fell silent. Sasuke fought with him all the time...more so than usual lately. Was he only doing that so he could spend more time with him? All those times he thought he'd picked fights with him because he hated him, he was really doing it for the opposite reason...

He looked up at Iruka, and realized that he already knew how Sasuke felt, he'd heard and read as much within the past couple of days. His problem was that he didn't know how he was supposed to respond.

Naruto shock his head and sighed, "I-I think I know that sensei... " he muttered and didn't need to look up to know that Iruka had sat down on his coffee table so he was eye level with Naruto, "I-it... I don't know how I'm supposed to ...respond... He- They haven't ...exactly told me yet... and I'm really confused. I don't know how I feel about Sa...them..."

Iruka sighed. This was a little tougher than the first question... "What part of your feelings don't you understand?" He asked patiently.

Naruto looked up, then looked back down again and sighed. "I...I think I have feelings for him..." This time he never even caught the slip of the tongue, he was so absorbed in his conflicting emotions and thoughts. "B-but I don't know if it's just because... I don't want to be lonely anymore and I'm latching onto the first person who cares for me..."

Iruka sighed, "Well, what did you think of... them before you knew they liked you?" he asked and watched as Naruto's brow knitted together as he tried to think. Biting his lip Naruto tried to sort out his feelings, what had Sasuke meant to him before? A rival, sure, but also a teammate and a friend in some bizarre fashion. He knew Sasuke would be there when he needed him...

TBC…


	7. Chapter 7: The Truth

Foxed!

Summary: Due to a freakish accident while spying on Sasuke, Naruto is now sporting a fluffy orange tail with matching ears!

Warnings: OOC syndrome…although we were going for that so…yeah… This story should be tame compared to our other ones…but we're not making any promises! Also it is Yaoi! You have been warned!

Pairings: SasuNaru! So there!

Rating: PG13…for now…if we don't lose our minds in the process of writing…again…

Chapter 7: The Truth

Then something surfaced in his memories...the one entry in his diary he was afraid of someone reading...Iruka had the diary so he was sure he'd probably read it by now.

The day Sasuke had 'died'...the darkest few hours of Naruto's life. He'd felt as if something had been ripped out of him and there was a hole in his side...he hadn't even been able to think straight...

Naruto sighed and buried his face in his hands, he knew, he knew how he felt as he watched Sasuke die in his arms. Naruto also remembered after the battle when Sakura had yelled at him that Sasuke was okay, that he was alive. Naruto felt tears sting his eyes...why was he such an idiot? Why couldn't he have seen this sooner?

"Naruto...?" Iruka asked after Naruto hadn't said anything for a while. Naruto lifted his head from his hands. Tears were running down his cheeks but he ignored them.

"I understand..." Naruto mumbled. "It's...it's been there the whole time hasn't it? I just couldn't see it..." He hung his head. "Now what do I do...?" He asked quietly. He'd just run out on Sasuke...maybe he would think he was fickle and unreliable...he probably wouldn't take him even if he begged...

Iruka sighed and patted the blonde's shoulder, "It's probably best to eat something and get over that cold of yours..." Iruka answered, and Naruto blinked up at him, he wasn't all that hungry but he was actually really sleepy and light headed and it was a wonder he was sitting there talking to Iruka at all. Nodding his head numbly Naruto sighed.

Iruka watched as Naruto got up and headed for the door, but got up and placed a hand on his shoulder before he could leave.

"Naruto...think carefully about how you want to talk to this person of yours...if you suddenly throw yourselves at them you might scare them away..." He said. He knew who Naruto was talking about...and he knew Sasuke's personality, he'd taught him for years.

Naruto smiled tiredly. "Thanks, Iruka-sensei." He said, and Iruka let him go out and wander into the streets on his way home.

He sighed. "...Good luck..." He whispered and closed the door.

----

Naruto sighed as he shut the door behind himself and drug his feet to bed, hopefully in the morning he wasn't going to be as sick...maybe then he could talk to Sasuke...

But the next day the talk with Sasuke never came...if anything there was a wall between the two boys. Neither one would say a word to each other which was not surprising for Sasuke, but in Naruto's case it was kind of scary. He blamed it on the cold he had though.

This went on for...too long...Naruto was afraid to voice his feelings to Sasuke for fear that he wouldn't feel the same for him anymore and Sasuke thought that Naruto hated his guts and was trying to keep away from him for his sake...neither one realized what the other was feeling, and they took huge steps backwards instead of forwards for every day they didn't say a word to each other.

Naruto's cold went away...and he occupied himself by training practically every moment that he didn't have a mission or had to sleep...in fact sleep was something he didn't seem to do a lot lately anyway...

Sasuke for his part wasn't sleeping much either, he kept waking up with nightmares and to avoid them the dark haired teen would stay up all night training.

Kakashi sighed as he watched his two top students relationship sink like a rock in water... what had gone wrong with them anyway? Was it that they were just to shy with each other to explore there feelings? Or something else? Kakashi called a halt to their training, nothing much was getting done anyway.

Sakura went home, exhausted. She shot one worried glance at Sasuke before she left. He was still viciously attacking a dummy, but he looked tired...so did Naruto for that matter but she didn't pay him much attention. Kakashi told the two of them to get some sleep that night, and disappeared, leaving Naruto and Sasuke alone. Naruto hacked at the practice dummy in front of him, then dug his kunai into it and sunk to the ground, exhausted. Here was another opportunity to tell Sasuke...and he'd made himself too tired to even speak...

Before Naruto could summon the energy he needed to get up off his ass and open his mouth to speak, Sasuke was already at the edge of the training ground walking away.

Naruto opened his mouth to call to the other boy but he bit his lip instead. That slight hesitation was enough for Sasuke to disappear from the blonde's view. Cursing himself for hesitating Naruto pulled himself to his feet. He knew he should run after Sasuke, make him listen or something, but the most Naruto could muster out of his tired body was a sight hobble in the direction Sasuke had disappeared in.

He reached a hand out in some kind of futile attempt to reach Sasuke as his vision swam...he wobbled on his feet, and pitched forward. The world was already black by the time he hit the ground.

----

Naruto groaned as he opened his eyes and breathed in grass and dirt. He very slowly pulled his tired aching body up so he was sitting on the ground and looked around. It was night...he must have passed out...but it was unusually bright for being so late at night...

Looking up into the sky Naruto spotted the full moon which illuminated the training grounds. At first Naruto was not really thinking much of it but when his heart started hammering in his chest and his head felt like it was splitting in two the blonde boy began to panic...he was lucky he passed out again before he sprouted the ears and tail...who knew what Naruto would have done then.

Kakashi landed beside the little fox lying on the ground and sighed. Why did these two have to be so difficult? He wondered, and picked up Naruto, tucking the small form under his arm. This called for drastic measures...this would either let their relationship actually get to a start or sink it altogether...he hoped it was the first one it was more interesting.

----

Sasuke looked up from the book he was reading in the dim light of his living room as someone knocked on the door...who would be visiting him at this time of night? He put the book down and got up, pulling the door open.

Kakashi was standing there with that little orange fox sleeping in his arms. "Sasuke, take care of this for a bit okay?" he said thrusting the little animal into Sasuke's arms and was about to leave, but turned back as if he remembered something, "Oh and don't bother looking for Naruto for a bit, okay?" he said then disappeared, leaving Sasuke very, very confused and annoyed.

He twitched and closed the door but looked down at the little creature in his arms and sighed. He'd missed the little guy...where had he been all this time? Kakashi must have been taking care of him, he figured. It was asleep...or unconscious and when Sasuke poked it, it didn't wake up, so he lay it on the couch cushion and picked up his book. He'd feed it or something when it woke up...he wondered if it would remember him...and why Kakashi was such a completely weird guy...

Naruto's nose twitched... he smelled strawberries again...every time he smelt strawberries now, Naruto had an urge to look around for Sasuke but the guy was never there. This time though when Naruto opened his eyes, he was confused when he saw the dark haired teen sitting beside him reading a book. Was Naruto dreaming? Over the past month he had not been able to get this close to Sasuke to talk to him…the best he could get was, like, 2 meters away and then that was just to throw something at him while fighting. But now was his chance! He was going to speak to Sasuke! He had to listen! Naruto opened his mouth and was horrified when all that came out was a series of whines and squeaks.

'What the hell!' Naruto cursed and looked down at his hands...and to his absolute and total horror he realized that they were paws again...he swivelled his head around to look at his body...his furry orange body...his poofy tail...he was the fox again? How had that happened? He had to be having a nightmare...he had to wake up...He bit down on his arm and yelped in pain. If this was a dream it was the most realistic, painful one he'd ever had...

Sasuke looked over just in time to see the small fox bit down on his own arm and yip in surprise. Sasuke chuckled and reached over scratching it behind the ear, "Of course that's going to hurt," he muttered "Do you have fleas?" he asked the fox knowing full well that it couldn't answer him, but Naruto could glare and glare he did...unfortunately Sasuke thought it was rather amusing.

Sasuke chuckled again and reached out to pick Naruto up, placing him on his lap. Naruto tried to escape for a moment but stopped. Strawberries...they were all around him. He couldn't smell them when Sasuke was so far away...would it hurt him to just...let himself enjoy being close to him even if it was all a sham? He sighed as Sasuke's hands manoeuvred through his fur apparently looking for any signs of fleas.

Although Naruto highly doubted he was going to find any, the blonde let Sasuke's fingers work through his thick fur...after all it felt really good...and Naruto knew he was a mooch through and through. Sighing contentedly Naruto rested his head on Sasuke's arm. He really wished he could talk to Sasuke right then...he had a long time to think about what he wanted to say but now when he was close to Sasuke...he couldn't even speak a word.

"Well, I don't see any fleas..." Sasuke said and smoothed the fox's fur. It seemed to recognize him...and was contented with his presence. Once more, however, he was struck by how alike this creature was to Naruto...and that just pushed him back onto the train of thought he'd been so desperately trying to stay off of.

Naruto. He was acting strange lately. He didn't have his usual energy...for anything really. He fought half heartedly, talked hardly at all to anyone, and Sasuke was pretty sure he was getting little if any sleep judging by the bags under his eyes...

Sighing, Sasuke couldn't help but wonder what was going on inside Naruto's mind...if anything at all. Did Naruto hate him that much to lose sleep over it? He probably thought Sasuke was a pervert for even thinking of liking another guy... why else would he have run away when he read his diary...

He sighed, as that tiny, miniscule, barely noticeable ray of hope once more shone in the dark recesses of his troubled mind. What if...it was a big what if but it was there. What if Naruto was just scared? What if he actually did like Sasuke and couldn't tell him, or hadn't sorted out his feelings yet? What if...

He sighed and hung his head. 'What if's' never got anybody anywhere, it just gave them false hope so that when the inevitable happened the hurt would be that much more piercing,

Feeling dejected all over again, Sasuke stood up with the little fox in his arms, he really needed to get some sleep and the fox in his arms was all but sleeping himself. Dragging his feet up stares to his bedroom Sasuke firmly shut the door behind himself before putting the orange animal down on the bed. He really did not want to have to explain why the fox had run away form him a third time wail Sasuke had been sleeping.

He pulled on his pj.'s and crawled into the bed, and the fox curled up next to him, comfortable and warm against his chest. Sasuke smiled a little and stroked it's fur as he let sleep take him...he felt like he hadn't slept in ages...

----

Naruto's eyes flew open as pain and a horrible gut wrenching sick feeling overpowered him. He backed out from under Sasuke's arm, not even bothering to wonder how it had got there and looked out the window...it was early, early morning and the sun was just starting to come up...and the moon was slowly disappearing.

Painfully slowly.

Beside him Sasuke stirred as Naruto couldn't help but emit a painful groan as his body transformed. It hurt, it really, really hurt!

Sasuke blinked in the morning sunlight that was streaming in through his window...what was wrong with the fox? Sasuke's eyes flew open as he watched the small orange body grow larger, the ears shrink, and the face flatten. Not understanding what was happening he grabbed hold of the shoulders that seemed to be shedding at an alarming rate.

It let out a howl, which gradually turned into a human scream of pure pain...a familiar scream... Sasuke's eyes opened wide as the fox features morphed and changed into a face he knew so well...but it was twisted in pain. Arms reached up to clutch at him as he screamed again...the last of the fur fell off, the tail disappeared, the whiskers shrunk back into lines on his face, and Uzumaki Naruto fell forward, panting and naked, onto Sasuke's chest.

Sasuke stared dumbly down at the boy he held in his arms...he couldn't even think something to explain this to save his life. The only thing that ran through Sasuke's mind was the fact that Naruto had somehow ended up in his arms naked ...not that he complained, but it was just too strange...especially with the whole fox turning human before all this...

Sasuke's face when crimson...god Naruto had been the fox all this time! He knew! he knew more then what his diary had said!

Naruto opened his eyes and tried to focus through the pain that still lingered all over his body. That had been worse than the first time...far worse, and for a moment he didn't even know where he was. Slowly he came to the realization that he was leaning on something...no...not something...someone...

He groaned and lifted his head up, and froze. Even with his vision blurry he could see who it was. Sasuke...staring at him with a look that he couldn't place...but he didn't like...

"I-It was you..." Sasuke said in a voice Naruto would never have thought to hear out of Sasuke's mouth, "The whole time, you were the fox..." Naruto blinked up at Sasuke and tried to open his mouth to say something but nothing came out. Sasuke's eyes hardened and he pushed the smaller boy off of him and stood up.

He glared down at Naruto and all Naruto could do was stare with wide, horrified eyes. It was those eyes...those eyes of hatred that the townspeople always threw at him, the ones he dealt with every day and shrugged off.

Sasuke had never looked at him with those eyes before...it hurt...it hurt so much...He wanted to say he was sorry...he didn't know why it had happened, he hadn't meant to hurt him, anything to make those eyes stop hating...but his mouth was sealed shut by a lump in his throat.

Sasuke turned away form Naruto and stomped out of his room, he did not look back to see the tears that were now falling form Naruto's eyes. He could not hear the choking sob that filled Naruto's being as he tried to hold back the tears. He did not hear or see this because he was trying to hold back his own tears of pain and betrayal as he tried to escape the pain.

He ran out of his house and into the woods near it, searching for somewhere he could vent his anger on a few trees...Naruto had played him like a patsy! Worming his way into his life as the fox, probably just to get some kind of dirt on him...and he certainly had it now. Naruto knew everything...everything about his family, everything about the self he tried to hide from others, everything about his love for the blonde...and he was probably laughing at him or something right now.

TBC…

MN: Um…sorry…for taking way to long to get this to you. Just so you know…we will be slow in getting the next chapters out so please be patient.

E: Yeah…it's hard to get this kind of thing done when you have school, and novels to read coming out your backside, and essays and tests and…oy don't mind me as I die. This was done with a few unexpected days of freedom that were given to me, so who knows when it might happen again. And yes it's an evil cliffhanger…sorry about that'


	8. Chapter 8: Lies, Truth

Okay…it's been a Loooooooooong time since we updated. We're sorry but we're lazy. We do have the story finished it's just …unedited and crappy. You're lucky too that one of us had a copy of it because both our computers died …more then once over the year. If it weren't on a CD backed up well, we wouldn't even exist anymore. So be happy! We decided to get the rest up in a timelier manner.

Again…sorry, sorry, sorry! We beg your forgiveness!

Here have a SasuNaru plushy…

Or you can go find Tegie-chan's deviantArt site, got lots of SasuNaru there to drool over. Should get the addy up on the author's page soon.

Foxed! 

Summary: Due to a freakish accident while spying on Sasuke, Naruto is now sporting a fluffy orange tail with matching ears!

Warnings: OOC syndrome…although we were going for that so…yeah… This story should be tame compared to our other ones…but we're not making any promises! Also it is Yaoi! You have been warned! 

Pairings: SasuNaru

Rating: PG13…for now…

Chapter 8 Lies, Truth, and Everything In-between.

Sasuke aimed a punch at the tree trunk but he had no strength behind it. Leaning against the uninjured tree Sasuke felt hot tears stream down his cheek. He had been such a fool! Why had he let the dobe worm his way into his hart only to have it torn to sheds on him? Why did he have to love the one who only wonted to hurt him?

Naruto stared numbly at the door, as if hoping against hope that Sasuke would come back...say he was sorry, he wasn't angry, he still loved him...

But that wasn't going to happen...He'd messed up royally and now Sasuke would hate him forever. He couldn't feel the tears anymore as he picked himself up off the floor and grabbed one of Sasuke's sheets to cover himself with. He couldn't stay here...he had to get home and...

And never come out of his room again...God he'd never felt so lonely before...it hurt so much he couldn't even remember how to hurt...

Sakura sighed as she hid under her umbrella from the down pore, Why Kakashi had insisted that they meet on such a miserable day, the pink haired girl had no clue. She was also kind of worried about her teammates...Sasuke was NEVER late, and it was already passed noon. Naruto wasn't ever this late either... it was just so wired.

She looked down the road for the hundredth time that morning...and still there was no sign of either boy. She was starting to become very worried...what could possibly have caused both of them to miss a meeting? Not to mention Naruto had been acting very strangely since he'd returned home...he wasn't his usual boisterous self, and Sasuke seemed more pissed off than usual lately...

Kakashi appeared in front of her and looked around. "So they didn't make it this morning..." He said without even saying a greeting.

Sakura recoiled with shock as her teacher appeared in front of her, although she really should have been used to it by now, Kakashi had a way of popping up when a person lest expected it. Recovering from her shock, Sakura was about to yell at him for being late but Kakashi was already talking again.

"Sakura, Go to Naruto's home and see if he's there." Kakashi paused as she nodded her head, "If he's there take him with you to find Sasuke." Again Sakura nodded her head and her teacher was gone in a poof of smoke.

Sakura was confused, but she did as she was told, and ran through the downpour to Naruto's home. She knocked on the door, but got no response. She pounded harder, and screamed at him to open the door but still got no answer. She could see the light on in the kitchen through the window though and figured he must be home, so she tried the doorknob. Surprisingly enough it turned easily and the door swung open.

"Baka, never locks his door...what if I was some kind of axe murderer or something..." She muttered under her breath as she took her muddy shoes off. Hay she might be annoyed with the blonde but she wasn't going to drag mud through his house...not that it mattered anyway. Picking her way through the piles of junk and garbage, Sakura couldn't help but think 'Bachelor'.

Naruto was not in the kitchen or living area, or the bathroom so that left his bedroom. She called to him and knocked on the door before she opened it but since she got no response she figured it was all or nothing. Hoping she wasn't going to come across some grisly scene...or the horrible scene of Naruto standing naked or something, she opened the bedroom door and peered inside. On the bed, under a thick blanket, was a familiar mop of blonde hair, but the occupant of the bed didn't seem to be moving much.

Not sure if he was sleeping or...well, dead, Sakura rushed to his side and began shaking him violently, "Naruto! Naruto BAKA! Wake up!" All she received from the blonde was a groan, but when Sakura stopped shaking the boy she noticed that his eyes were actually open and looking at her...why hadn't he said anything though?

Actually the way he stared at her was kinda creepy...it was almost as if he didn't see her or didn't care if she was there or something. His eyes were dull...devoid of their usual cheerful sparkle. She shook her head, she was thinking nonsense. "Naruto, you Baka, get up already, we have work to do!" she said forcefully

Naruto blinked at her, and she noticed the whites of his eyes were red. Without answering however, he simply pulled the covers over her head as if she would disappear if he couldn't see her.

Sakura blinked as darkness fell over her, then she twitched. Pulling the covers off angrily. Sakura was about to yell at Naruto, demand to know what he thought he was doing when her eyes widened and she saw a lot of tanned skin. Sakura blushed as she stared at Naruto's naked body as he got up from bed to find some clothing. Realizing that she was staring Sakura pulled the blanket back into place shielding herself from the sight of naked Naruto.

She held it there for a while as the sounds of Naruto moving quietly and slowly around and pulling clothing on reached her ears. When it all had died down, she lowered the blanket slightly to take a peek and see if he was dressed yet. Naruto was standing in the middle of the room, dressed...well sort of. He didn't have his orange jacket thing on and his feet were still bare. He watched her as if he was only mildly interested that she was there at all.

Sakura blinked and resisted the urge to hid back under the blanket, Naruto was really, really creepy today. But she had a job to do and she wasn't going to let creepy Naruto who was acting like the living dead deter her from her job. Throwing off the blanket Sakura stood up and grabbed his hand, dragging him to the door. She threw his jacket at him and watched as Naruto slowly put it on...what was he mechanical man now? His motions were all slow and slightly jerky.

She growled on the inside at the boy that was even weirder than usual, and stepped out of the house and into the rain as soon as Naruto had finally gotten his jacket on. She started to go down the steps when she realized that he wasn't following her. Irritated, she turned around to see Naruto standing in the doorway staring in front of him with a pale face. What was he, afraid of the rain now!

Sighing in irritation, Sakura waked back to Naruto and glared at him, "Baka, what's your problem today?" she demanded, "Your acting all wired and stuff." The pink haired girl waited with her hands on her hips for some kind or response from the blonde.

But she didn't receive one...well not one that she could hear anyway. Naruto's mouth was moving but only a whisper of sound came out. Straining her ears Sakura moved closer to him trying to catch was he was saying. Although she wasn't sure if she had heard right, Sakura thought she heard the words 'don't hate me.' in the blondes mumbled words.

She blinked. "I don't hate you, baka!" She complained, but Naruto didn't even flinch...it was as if he didn't hear her talking or something. "I just want to get you out of this stupid house so we can find Sasuke!"

That did it. Naruto's face drained of all colour and he seemed to sort of wobble where he stood.

"Will you get ahold of yourself, let's go!" Sakura grabbed his arm and tried to pull him outside.

Unfortunately this time Naruto resisted, and Sakura was not able to move the blonde an inch. Sakura stopped pulling and stared back at Naruto's wide-eyed, white face. She didn't know what was wrong with him but even she knew she was not going to be able to drag him out the door if he didn't want to. Sighing, Sakura let go of his hand. "Naruto...what's wrong?" she asked not shear what else to do.

Naruto blinked and his eyes actually turned to look at her this time. They were bright with unshed tears and Sakura was taken aback. "Sa...kura..." He whispered as the tears overflowed. His knees gave out from under him and he collapsed to the ground, shaking.

"Wha...Naruto?" Sakura knelt down in front of him but didn't know what to do as the blonde's small body was suddenly racked with sobs.

Sakura was uncertain what to do at first but finally she worked up her nerve and wrapped her arms around the blonde shoulders as he body shock with sobs. The two sat there in Naruto's doorway for some time, and the only sound that reached Sakura's ears was the rain now. Naruto's sobs had quieted but his shoulders still shook and tears still flowed from his eyes.

There was a small swooshing sound as Kakashi appeared on Naruto's doorstep and surveyed the scene before him. Yes, something bad had definitely happened...He cleared his throat and Sakura looked up in surprise.

"K-Kakashi sensei!" She cried and looked desperately at Naruto. "I-I don't know what's wrong with him, he won't stop crying..." She stopped as Kakashi approached them and squatted down in front of Naruto.

"Naruto?" Kakashi asked trying to get the blonde's attention. Naruto looked up when he heard his teacher's voice, it wasn't Iruka's but still it was a voice he did trust. Kakashi stared back at the swollen eyes of his blonde student, he did not want to ask this but he feared he had no choice. "Naruto...what happened last night at Sasuke's?"

Naruto's eyes filled with tears again and he tried to turn away but Kakashi grabbed him by the shoulders and forced him to look at him. "Tell me what happened!" He demanded.

Sakura stared, wide eyed at the display...wasn't Kakashi being a little too rough with Naruto? Obviously he had suffered something terrible to break him up this much...

Naruto choked. "He...he..." He swallowed. "I couldn't get out and...and he saw..."

Sakura blinked, that really did not make much sent to her at all, But Kakashi seemed to understand at least a little. Sighing, Kakashi shook his head, "What happened after he saw, Naruto?" Kakashi demanded more gently this time. Naruto shook his head as tears leaked out, "H-he ran away...his eyes...he- he hates me..."

He once more dissolved into sobs and Kakashi sighed and pulled the boy close to him to offer some comfort.

"Kakashi-sensei, what...what's going on?" Sakura asked. She was beyond confused. "Where's Sasuke? What's wrong with Naruto?"

Kakashi held up a hand to silence her and pushed Naruto back to arms length when the sobbing had slowed somewhat. "Naruto...Sasuke's gone..." He started.

Naruto blinked and stared at Kakashi, "G-gone?" he asked, voice hoarse form crying.

Kakashi nodded his head, "I've searched the Uchiha family grounds and the mansion but I can't feel Sasuke's chi anywhere." Even Sakura's eyes were wide with worry at this point, why would Sasuke run away? Well Naruto seemed to know but Sakura wasn't that cold hearted to beat it out of him at that moment.

Naruto hung his head. So Sasuke hated him that much that he couldn't even stand to be in the same town with him anymore...

Kakashi, noticing his student falling back into depression, shook him to get his attention. "Naruto, listen to me, we have to find him before someone else does...like his brother or someone else that wants to learn the secrets of his eyes...do you understand?"

Naruto's eyes widened and he nodded his head, Sasuke might hate him but Naruto didn't want anything bad to happen to his teammate. Especially not if he could help it. Seeing the sight spark return to Naruto's eyes, Kakashi nodded his head, "Get your equipment ready and meet me at the village gates in half an hour." he told the blonde then looked at Sakura. "You too Sakura."

Sakura nodded and the three of them split up to get ready for their search. Naruto frantically threw things into a bag, his depressed state from earlier giving way to fear. He was terrified...terrified that something might happen to Sasuke out there, that he would lose him forever...it was better to have him staring with eyes of hate than to have him dead...

He shook his head. No, he couldn't think about that, he had to focus...god this was all his fault...

But he couldn't brood about it now, right now he needed to get ready, throwing everything Naruto thought he could possibly need into a backpack he found himself running through the downpour to the village gates. He stood there panting, waiting for Kakashi and Sakura to show up...if he had a watch on he would have realized that he was early by 15 minutes.

He paced back and forth in the mud...what the hell was taking them so long, they had to find Sasuke before...A loud clap of thunder brought him violently back into reality. Sasuke was out there in that storm...and people might be looking for him and...

And Naruto couldn't wait any longer for his teammates. He shifted the backpack on his shoulder and dashed out the village gates and into the woods, searching desperately for Sasuke's chi, praying that he was ok...

Sasuke cursed as thunder flashed overhead, it was already raining why did it have to thunder as well? Hunching down at the base of a fallen tree Sasuke ducked his head down more trying to keep the wind and rain form getting at his exposed skin. The larger trees overhead provided some protection but not much.

He couldn't help but think he'd been an idiot to just take off like this, without so much as a match or a lunch or anything...of course he hadn't known it was going to start storming right away but...

He couldn't stay there...he wouldn't be able to bear the pain when Naruto broadcasted all of his weaknesses and secrets to the town. He could picture the blonde laughing as he did it...

Or was he just imagining things? He didn't know anymore...

Lighting flashed overhead again, and thunder rolled across the sky, this was the absolute worst day to decide to run away...also the he was sitting in one of the worst hiding spots...at lest he knew he wasn't going to get fried in case lightning decided to strike a tree near him.

Sneezing form the cold, Sasuke wiped his nose and shivered, why did Naruto have to play him for the fool? Did he hate Sasuke that much to hurt him in this way?

He should have known better...known better than to hope that maybe someday he could have said some magic words to make the blonde love him back...Ninjas weren't supposed to fall in love, it was a weakness.

Then he was weak...he still was...

He winced as another flash of lightning lit the sky...the storm was close now, the thunder rumbled almost immediately after. He closed his eyes and pulled the large collar of his shirt up to cover his face as the rain redoubled its efforts to drown him where he sat.

Naruto ran through the rain, it was coming down really hard and the blonde could barely see an inch in front of his face. But he had to find Sasuke, even if Sasuke hated him he had to find the dark haired ninja and tell him he was sorry. The tears that ran down his cheek were lost with the rain that pelted down on to him but Naruto ignored it all trying to sense a bit of chi that spelled Uchiha Sasuke.

He stumbled and fell to his knees in the dirt...what the hell was he doing? He'd never find Sasuke out here, he'd probably die or something...not that anyone would care if he did but...

Wait...Naruto's head snapped up. What was that it felt...for a second like Sasuke's chi, but it was hard to tell. He got to his feet, trying not to slip again in the mud and concentrated. There it was again!

It wasn't to far off...Naruto pushed himself forward against the wind, thunder cracked overhead and normally he would have winced at the loudness of it but right now he only had one thing on his mind. Naruto gritted his teeth as he pulled himself up onto a fallen log, Sasuke was near he could feel it. Opening his mouth and taking a deep breath Naruto tried to make himself heard over the wind and rain and thunder. "Sasuke! SAAASSSUUUKKKEEE!"

"What are you trying to do, make me deaf?" A quiet voice asked from very near him. Naruto blinked and looked down, and his heart caught in his chest. There was Sasuke, huddled against the very log he was lying on.

"Sasuke!" Naruto cried and pulled himself forward, tumbling off the log. He shook the dirt and water out of his hair and crawled over to him. "I thought I'd never find..." He stopped mid sentence. Sasuke was glaring at him.

"Did you have a good laugh?" Sasuke asked still glaring at Naruto who blinked in confusion. "Did you enjoy telling everyone that I'm some kind of sicko? That I'm gay and in love with the biggest loser in the village?" Sasuke's face was deadly calm as he asked this. He had not moved an inch but Naruto could tell he had wanted to run away so he did not have to look at the blonde again...the only thing that was stopping him was the fact that Sasuke was too tired and cold to even move.

"B-But Sasuke I didn't..." Naruto started and blinked back the tears that were forming from Sasuke's harsh words. If Sasuke could have seen them maybe he would have backed off but they mingled with the rain that ran down his face. "I didn't tell anyone..."

Sasuke humphed. "Yeah right, like I'm supposed to trust YOU..."

Naruto blinked, then his brows knit together. "What...What the hell is that supposed to mean?" He demanded.

Sasuke turned his head away, "Y-You were the fox... I told you things I haven't said to anyone..." Lightning flashed again as Sasuke turned back to look at the blonde. "You didn't care! You were just using me to get a laugh! I was worried about you and you were probably laughing your ass off at me!" Clenching his fists Sasuke stood up and glared down at Naruto.

Naruto's blue eyes flashed as the thunder rolled across the sky. "God your so full of yourself, you can't even see what's going on around you!" He yelled, getting to his feet as well and pointing at him. "Did it ever occur to you that I didn't do it on purpose!"

"Oh right, and I'm supposed to believe you just TURN into a fox for no reason whatsoever?" Sasuke yelled, his fists shaking.

Naruto blinked and was about to yell back that it was exactly how Sasuke had said when he remembered the first time he had changed...he had been sneaking into Sasuke's home to find something to blackmail the other boy with... Naruto blushed and Sasuke could see the guilt clearly on the other boys face.

"I KNEW it!" Sasuke yelled. "You hate me so much you don't even care if you hurt me or not, why the HELL did I ever fall in love with you in the first place!" He suddenly leapt forward and landed a punch on Naruto's face. Naruto stumbled backwards, unable to think. Sasuke was right...he'd hurt him and all because of some stupid prank...

But if Naruto did not fight back right now he was probably going to end up seriously hurt by Uchiha Sasuke...and Naruto really did not wont to end up in the hospital right then...also he felt bad enough as it was. He had come to apologize to Sasuke and he wouldn't even hear the blonde out at all. Growing under his breath, Naruto lunged back at Sasuke, landing a punch square in his eye. Sasuke slid back and held his brushed eye but that did not deter him form his rage.

Words were forgotten as the two of them took out their rage on each other. Both were angry at the other...both were angry at themselves...both were exhausted. The thunder rolled and shook the ground as Naruto once more lunged at Sasuke. Both were bruised, they were fighting out of anger and weren't thinking about blocking punches. Naruto, however, was dead on his feet, he didn't know what he was doing...his foot caught on something and he stumbled forward, and Sasuke grabbed him and threw him roughly to the side.

Neither one had realized that the ground ended just after the thick thorny wild rose blushes that Sasuke had thrown Naruto into until Sasuke lunged after Naruto and they both found themselves hanging in mid air. Rage and anger were completely forgotten as Sasuke's eyes widened in horror. Grabbing the blonde by the back of his collar, Sasuke tried to find a handhold but thorns and sharp rocks cut his skin.

He shot a desperate glance to Naruto, but the blonde's eyes were closed, he was knocked out cold. Sasuke thought that time moved in slow motion as they fell, because it seemed like an eternity that they spent suspended in mid air. At last they struck the side of the cliff, and Sasuke clutched the shorter boy to him as they rolled down together, and finally came to a stop somewhere at the bottom.

Sasuke lay there panting for breath as he held Naruto close to him. They were both covered in mud and little cuts...although Sasuke's hand seemed to have taken the worst of it. Holding his hand up to see the damage he had done in the dim light Sasuke winced, the skin was raw and little thorns were embedded deep. Lowering his hand, Sasuke panted for breath and stared at the sky that still flashed with lighting overhead.

He turned his head to look at Naruto's face. It was pale and bruised...very pale. Using his uninjured hand he clasped the other boy's wrist and felt for a pulse, and breathed a sigh of relief when he felt one...weak but it was there. He should have hated the boy so much that he didn't care what happened to him...he should have left him there and went to find help himself...but he couldn't...so he lay there in the rain, clutching the boy protectively to him as the storm moved over, his eyes clenched shut.

Sasuke tried to protect Naruto's body from the downpour but it was almost useless to try, they were both soaked to the skin and it was getting colder as the day wore on...Sasuke didn't even know what time of day it was, it was so dark because of the storm. But it must be getting late because it was colder. Grunting in pain Sasuke heaved himself to his feet and tried to pick the blonde up one handed...it was a difficult feat indeed.

Somehow he managed to swing Naruto over his shoulder and get to his feet at the same time, and he walked off further into the woods. His progress was slow with the extra weight, and he was exhausted, but something deep down kept him moving so he could get the blonde to shelter.

He didn't know how he'd found the shack in the downpour and darkness that surrounded him, but he figured it had to better than nothing and drug Naruto inside. The roof leaked in a lot of places but it was substantially drier than it was outside.

Sasuke sighed as he placed Naruto on the ground in the driest spot he could find. The place was covered in dust but at least it had not been vacant too long, there were some moldy blankets on the bed and a stack of wood by the fireplace. Sasuke wasn't going to even try putting Naruto in the bed...thing looked like it was going to fall apart just by looking at it. Actually, when Sasuke pulled the blankets off of the bed the frame just collapsed.

He shook the blanket out as best as he could and placed it beside the soaking wet, unconscious Naruto...he was going to have to get the boy out of those clothes or he would catch Pneumonia, but first he had to bandage his hand. Ripping the hem of his own shirt, he cleaned the wound with water from a small pot he found in a corner and wrapped it up tightly to stop the blood flow. It hurt like hell but he endured it.

With his hand bandaged but hurting like hell Sasuke set about the task of removing the blonde's sopping wet clothing. Removing his coat and shirt Sasuke had no problems, but when it came to Naruto's pants Sasuke found himself blushing like mad...and it wasn't because he was getting sick. Even if he was mad at the blonde before him he still liked him and blushed when he thought of ...certain things.

Somehow he managed to pull the pants off without falling into his gutter mind completely, leaving Naruto in nothing but his boxer shorts. He swallowed nervously and reached out, hoping that the shorts were dry and he wouldn't have to remove them as well. His heart caught in his throat when his fingers touched fabric nearly as wet as the one's he'd just taken off.

His heart hammered uncomfortably in his chest and he'd never blushed so hard in his life as he hooked his hands under the shorts and pulled them off, trying to keep his eyes closed as much as possible.

Finally the task was done and before Sasuke could ...lose control and sneak a peek he threw the blanket over the blonde's naked body and tucked it around him. Sighing with relief he set about stripping himself down to the bare bones as well...it was just as awkward to undress himself with his bandaged hand as it was Naruto. Finally Sasuke stood there naked as the day he was born, shivering in the cold, but he couldn't crawl into the blankets just yet. With teeth chattering Sasuke tried to wring out their clothing as best he could and hang them up to dry.

Naruto opened first one eye and then the other...where was he? ...And why was he very cold and naked? He could hear the howling of a storm all around him but he felt dry. Blinking, he turned his head, and had to hold back the gasp that tried to escape his throat. Sasuke was standing there, buck naked, hanging up his and Naruto's clothing on a beam on the roof of the shack or whatever it was they were in.

Naruto stared at the other boy in shock...what was he doing completely naked! Well not completely, he had a strip of black cloth wrapped around his hand. Naruto groaned and tried to sit up, he hurt all over...why did he hurt so much? Why was Sasuke's naked body covered in blue-black bruises and angry red scratches?

He stopped trying to move and lay back, trying not to look over at Sasuke's naked body, although it was a hard task to accomplish considering every fiber of his being wanted to just look and look and...

He closed his eyes and mentally scolded himself. 'Stop that' He told himself angrily. 'He hates you, remember?' With his eyes closed he heard rather than saw Sasuke move across the room to stand near him. He opened his eyes a crack in curiosity. The dark haired boy was placing wood in a little fireplace and trying to light it.

It was almost mesmerizing watching Sasuke kneel in front of the fireplace as he performed the hand seals and used a little chakura to make the wood burst into flames. Finally satisfied that he could get into the blanket and not get it wet or light the damn thing on fire Sasuke turned around and saw Naruto staring at him red faced. Sasuke's face also heated up as he realized that Naruto was watching him ...for how long he didn't know but he had been naked the whole time.

"D-did you get a good look?" He asked coldly, his eyes hardening at the blonde.

Naruto blinked, but didn't say anything back, he just blushed and looked away, trying to fight the tears that were welling up in his eyes. Sasuke still had those eyes...he still hated him...but still Naruto did not want to fight him anymore. It hurt him deep down inside to know that he had caused those bruises on Sasuke's body.

Not saying a word to the blonde Sasuke walked stiffly over to the other blanket and wrapped it around his cold body, he didn't wont to admit it but he wasn't feeling too hot right then. It was probably form all the bruises on his body as well as sitting out in the rain for god knows how long. Sitting himself down at Naruto's feet, Sasuke tried not to let his fatigue show as he tried to warm himself in front of the fire.

Naruto's eyes slowly moved back so they were looking at Sasuke...he was shivering, his face was red, and not from blushing...he winced as the boy sneezed and sniffled, wiping his nose half heartedly with the back of his hand. Sasuke was sick...probably from dragging Naruto's sorry ass to this shack and taking care of him instead of taking care of himself...

Feeling the guilt factor rise again Naruto tried to sit up, but a groan escaped his lips and Sasuke looked over at him his jaw clenched to keep his teeth from chattering. "W-What are you doing, dobe?" he demanded, voice a bit hoarse for some reason.

Naruto blinked but said nothing as he sat up and pulled the blanket around him as he inched closer to Sasuke. "S-Sasuke...I'm sorry..." he could only say in a whisper...his throat hurt too much.

Sasuke blinked and looked away, and Naruto's heart sank. He wasn't one to give in so he pushed on. "I...I know I probably don't deserve forgiveness..." He whispered. "I m-mean this whole thing started because...because I wanted to spy on you..." He hung his head. There, he'd admitted to it...He waited for Sasuke to explode at him, hit him, anything, but the other boy sat there still as a statue as if he wasn't even listening. Naruto could feel the tears well up in his eyes. "B-b-but...I didn't know then...I didn't...I didn't tell anyone, you have to believe me..." He sobbed and threw himself on Sasuke's arm, clinging to it.

Sasuke just stared in dumb shock as Naruto clung to his arm and sobbed, "P-Please Sasuke..." he whispered fearing that the other boy would push him off or something. Naruto didn't know what would happen if he was rejected again, he didn't want to find out. "Please don't hate me Sasuke..." Naruto whispered before passing out entirely, still clinging to Sasuke's arm.

Sasuke stared for a long while before he sighed and reached out to dislodge Naruto from his arm and hold onto him. He'd passed out from exhaustion and pain...but the words floated around in Sasuke's head, haunting, hurt, terrified words spoken by Naruto through his sobs. 'Please don't hate me, Sasuke...' What did they mean? Naruto sounded so genuinely heartbroken and sorry...could it mean that...that maybe Naruto liked him back after all? But if he did why had he tricked him by becoming the fox so many times?

Sighing Sasuke knew he was not going to get any answers tonight...not with Naruto passed out beside him and he himself fog minded and cold...he was really cold even though he was right beside the fire. Plus he wasn't that much of a jerk to block Naruto's heat, too…the best he could do was lay down beside the dobe and try to sleep...

Naruto opened his sore eyes and blinked into the total darkness that surrounded him. He could still hear the wind and rain outside, as well as the labored breathing of Sasuke lying beside him. He could feel the other boy shivering as he lay on the cold floor...Naruto was closer to the fire but even that was almost out. Naruto didn't know what Sasuke would do when he woke up but...he wasn't going to let him freeze to death, consequences be damned. He shifted closer, ignoring the pain in his body and reached out to pull Sasuke closer to him, snaking his arms around his middle.

Naruto nearly had a heart attack when Sasuke leaned into him, seeking the warmth Naruto's body gave off. But Sasuke was still asleep, eyes tightly closed and his body very cold against Naruto's fevered skin. Shivering a little, Naruto pulled the blankets close around both of them and hoped to god that Sasuke would stay asleep as he rolled the dark haired ninja over him so he could be closer to the fire. Naruto had every intention of letting the dark haired Uchiha go once he was beside the fire but Sasuke's own arms seemed to have snuck around his middle and held them close together.

Naruto could feel himself blush at the feel of Sasuke's cold, smooth skin against his own, and shuddered a little at the goose bumps that ran down his neck. He closed his eyes tightly and tried not to think about it...he'd never been this close to Sasuke before, at least not in human form and it felt...

No he wouldn't think about what it felt like that would only lead to problems.

Forcing himself to sleep was actually pretty easy in Naruto's case...after all he was exhausted beyond reason. Soon Naruto sighed and his snores filled the small hut.

Sasuke blinked when...nothing sounded in his ears...the storm must have passed. The only sound that reached Sasuke ears was Naruto's slight snores that were in his ear...his breath tickled Sasuke's cheek. Sasuke felt his face go hot…why was Naruto so close to him? Very, very close to him.

He squirmed a little but the blonde only twitched and clung closer to him, pausing in his snoring long enough to mumble something unintelligible. Sasuke remained totally still, his mind racing. His skin touched Naruto's skin and both blankets were covering the two of them...Naruto must have done this of his own accord...He just couldn't get his head around it, it was swimming with sickness, and with thoughts that were brought to mind when Naruto shifted his head a little so his face pressed against Sasuke's skin...

Trying not to think about or look at Naruto and the fact that was so very close to the blonde Sasuke's eyes wandered over to the only small window in the building. He could see the moon as it hung low in the sky. It must have been 1 or 2 in the morning by the look of it. Sighing, Sasuke let his eyes rest on the bright object, trying not to think about Naruto in his arms.

His eyes followed the sliver of moonlight that shone from the window and across the room...it was almost touching Naruto. If he were closer he'd be able to see Naruto's face...Sasuke shook his head and looked back at the moon. It was still nearly full...it had been a total full moon the night before, hadn't it? He tried to shift a little so he could see it better, and a stab of pain shot through him. He clenched his teeth and jerked back into position, jostling Naruto who moved a little so that his foot rested in the sliver of moonlight.

Naruto's eyes shot open as pain shot through his body. Beside him, Sasuke jerked back in shock as the blonde's eyes opened and he emitted a moan of pain as he began twitching and shivering. What was wrong with Naruto? Sasuke could only stare wide-eyed and in shock as Naruto's body began to shrink and sprout orange hair.

His nose elongated into a snout, and ears sprouted as well as a tail, and he continued to shrink. The whole process must have been incredibly painful because Naruto kept groaning in agony...that turned into whines as his body became more animal than human. Before Sasuke really understood what was happening, Naruto the fox lay near him on the floor, passed out from the pain.

Blinking down at the small animal that was now laying next to him Sasuke found that he was...very confused...Naruto had not done that on purpose...well Sasuke really didn't think that was the case, the small animal was painting heavily as it lay there obviously in pain.

"N-Naruto?" Sasuke asked leaning closer and pocking the animal lightly in the stomach... not getting a response, Sasuke moved his hand to the bottom of the small padded feet and tickled him lightly, "Naruto wake up..."

Naruto opened his eyes...he hurt so much...and someone was tickling his feet just to make it that much more worse. He whined and pulled his feet back against his body where the fur warmed them.

His eyes opened entirely. Fur? Fur? He looked down at himself, then way up at Sasuke, who was staring at him in obvious confusion. This wasn't good...Sasuke already hated him for changing into the fox and how he was doing it left right and center, and he couldn't even speak to explain himself. He whimpered and backed away, fearing Sasuke's wrath.

Sasuke stared down at the small animal that was Naruto, his ears were down and Sasuke bet he did not realize he had tucked his tail between his legs as he backed up. "Stop that Naruto," Sasuke scolded him and reached over, grabbing the animal by the scruff of the neck before he could run away. Naruto whimpered in fear... Sasuke could really hurt him in this form if he wanted to.

He screwed his eyes shut, waiting for the pain that was to come, but was surprised to say the least when he felt Sasuke press him gently to his chest, holding him close. His confusion only grew when Sasuke grabbed the blankets and carried him across the room to sit by the fire and throw more wood into it. He stopped shivering in fear...he hadn't even realized he'd been doing that...and looked up questioningly at Sasuke.

Sasuke blushed when he looked down at Naruto only to find the fox staring back up at him in disbelief. "Shut up you're cute, that's the only reason I'm holding you..." Sasuke muttered under his breath only half-heartedly. Naruto eyes widened when his sensitive ears heard that. Sasuke thought him cute? My god! The world was going to end! Well maybe not... Sasuke was cute when he blushed...

"Will you stop staring at me like that?" Sasuke asked, in an even less convincing tone than before. Naruto felt the skin under his fur warm up...he was blushing too...Sasuke didn't hate him for being a fox right now...did that mean he forgave him? That he understood? This would be the perfect time to tell him how he felt! But damn it he was a fox he couldn't talk!

Naruto humped and tried to think of a way he could tell the boy who was holding him in his arms how he felt. Then he got an idea, winning a little so he could get Sasuke's attention…it worked perfectly, Sasuke leaned closer and was about to ask what the heck was wrong with Naruto when Naruto's long pink tongue shot out and slid across Sasuke's pale cheek which soon turned bright red.

Sasuke pulled his cheeks away to stare down at the fox and he could swear...was he grinning? "Wha...what was that for?" He asked, as the blush crept all over his face, making him feel like he was glowing in the dark or something. Naruto rolled his eyes...this guy still didn't get it? He yipped at him and moved to place both his paws in Sasuke's hand then stared up at him intently, hoping he would get the message.

"Naruto... I don't speak fox you know." Sasuke said glaring at the small animal that rolled his eyes in a completely human gesture and yipped at him again in annoyance. "I'm not stupid," the dark haired teen said angrily and again Naruto rolled his eyes. Did this guy not understand anything? Apparently not... it was time for desperate measures.

Throwing caution to the wind...plus he was kind of annoyed that Sasuke was not getting this Naruto leapt up onto Sasuke and if the other boy didn't want his sharp little claws to dig in he was going to have to hold him...good thing Sasuke didn't want his claws to dig in. Sasuke blushed as he held onto Naruto who was ...smiling? Could foxes smile?

Naruto yipped again and wagged his tail, then pushed forward and drug his tongue across Sasuke's face again...but this time right across the lips. He pulled back and stared at Sasuke...if he didn't get that one then he was a complete moron...

Sasuke blushed red...very red, what was Naruto doing? It was almost like he had just tried to...kiss him...

TBC…

And we hope to update sooner this time!

Promise.


	9. Chapter 9: The end

OMG! This is probably the soonest we have ever updated…

It's also the last chapter so hopefully everything will be wrapped up nicely in the end.

Foxed! 

Summary: Due to a freakish accident while spying on Sasuke, Naruto is now sporting a fluffy orange tail with matching ears!

Warnings: OOC syndrome…although we were going for that so…yeah… This story should be tame compared to our other ones…but we're not making any promises! Also it is Yaoi! You have been warned! 

Pairings: SasuNaru

Rating: PG13…for now…

Chapter 9: Everything is True!

Sasuke's eyes widened at the realization, Naruto had given him a kiss. Although it was a bit wet Sasuke didn't criticize the blonde too much about it...come on how was he supposed to get those animal lips to work up a good pucker? Sill red-faced Sasuke stared down at the fox in his hands. "N-Naruto...Di-... was that a kiss...?" Sasuke had to ask feeling really stupid right then. Naruto sighed and very slowly and exaggeratedly nodded his head.

Sasuke didn't think he could blush anymore but he did. "Wha...did..." He stuttered, then swallowed nervously, trying to pull his thoughts into some kind of order...Naruto had kissed him...sure he was a fox but he was still himself and that could only mean... "D-does that mean that...that..." he paused as the fox stared at him, eyes growing wide with anticipation of what he would say next.

Sasuke sighed at last "I-I would rather you be human when you do that..." he muttered turning his head away. It was so hard to talk to someone who was in a different body and try and read their body language. In his arms Naruto snorted and nodded his head in agreement, he wished he was in his own body when he had kissed Sasuke...he wanted to use his lips for once. But then again he might not have had the courage to kiss him if he had been human.

Sasuke blinked when he saw Naruto nod his head at this...that probably meant that he wanted to kiss him as a human...right? Damn it he was so confused...and he was having a romantic conversation with a fox...that was so disturbing he didn't even want to think about it.

"Naruto..." Sasuke said and turned to look at him again. Naruto's ears perked up to show he was listening.

"W-we need to talk..." Sasuke told him, "b-but I would prefer it if you could talk back..." the dark haired ninja couldn't help but smirk at the irony, most of the time people were demanding Naruto to shut up and now he was sitting there telling Naruto he wanted to hear his two cents worth.

Naruto blinked but nodded his head in agreement...he wanted to actually talk to Sasuke too...it would make it so much easier to get his point across that, and maybe he could kiss him for real...butterflies invaded his tiny stomach and flew around at the mere thought of it...and he had a feeling Sasuke might not be too opposed to it...

"We should get to sleep...if you change back we can talk in the morning, ok?" Sasuke asked him, and he nodded again.

Pulling the blankets around his shoulders Sasuke lay down with Naruto in his arms. He didn't give an explanation why he did this and Naruto didn't bother to wonder. It just seemed natural to be lying light that together...even if one of them was a fuzzy little animal. Sasuke sighed as he closed his eyes...although he was really stuffed up...damn cold, dame hand...but that was the last of his cursing because Naruto had snuggled up to him and nuzzled his cheek again.

He smiled a little and reached up to scratch Naruto behind the ears. Naruto purred happily and snuggled closer. Sasuke suddenly felt more relaxed than he had in a long while...even if it was probably sickness induced...He sighed as he allowed himself to drift off into dream land...

Sakura cursed Kakashi, she cursed Naruto...she didn't exactly curse Sasuke but she wasn't too happy with him at this point in time either. Kakashi had ordered her off in this direction to look for any sign of Naruto or Sasuke. Not only had she gotten soaked to the skin wandering through the rain all night, but she had fallen down a gully as well! So now she was covered from head to toe in mud. Naruto, that baka had to run off ahead of them and only god knew were he was. When she found him Sakura swore she was going to put a leash on him.

She stumbled through a thick patch of grass and shook herself off for fear that a bug or something had landed on her...at least it wasn't raining anymore, and the morning sun was beating down on her...which dried her clothing but also meant that the mud was caking to her skin...which could not be good for her complexion. She looked up from dusting herself off and blinked. There was a little shack directly in front of her...the grass must have been hiding it from view.

Sighing with relief, Sakura hoped there was something in there that resembled clean water...or maybe some food at lest, she was starving and her pack of supplies had been lost some time ago when she took that lovely trip down the gully. She didn't exactly run up to the shack but she did quicken her pace, maybe one of the two missing ninjas had found this place as well.

Eagerly she pushed the door open...and immediately wished she hadn't. Her skin turned a green complexion and she thought she might throw up...or run away screaming...or just crack right then and there and spend the rest of her life in an insane asylum.

Both Naruto and Sasuke were in the shack...and they were both apparently naked, their clothing hanging nearby, underwear and all...but that wasn't the worst part...oh no it wasn't even close...The worst part was that Naruto was sleeping on top of Sasuke, and the dark haired boy slept away, seeming to not care one speck that he had another boy on top of him...

Naruto blinked as he heard something hit the floor rather heavily. He was really warm, sunlight hit his back and Sasuke's warm front heated his stomach... Blinking his eyes to clear the crud that stuck to them Naruto looked down and his eyes widened he was sleeping on top of Sasuke! And he was HUMAN! Naruto was about to leap off the other boy but then he remembered last night and his desire to kiss Sasuke.

Well...one little kiss wouldn't hurt...and the guy was sleeping after all...

He blushed and reached over to brush the long black hair from Sasuke's face...his skin was a little clammy to the touch and his face was red from the fever but his breathing was even. Naruto swallowed his courage and bent forward, pressing his lips to the other boys and closed his eyes...Sasuke's lips were soft...

Sakura groaned and opened her eyes, sitting up...what was she doing on the floor...? She thought, then glanced over and her blood ran cold.

She was dreaming! That was it she was dreaming, just a dream! But then why did her head hurt so much? Why was she cold and covered in mud looking at her two teammates kissing each other in the morning sun light? IT WASNT A DREAM! Sitting up like she had been struck by lightning Sakura emitted a blood-curdling shriek, which could wake the dead before she passed out again.

Both Sasuke and Naruto's eyes flew open at the sound...Naruto's lips were still on Sasuke's and he turned very red and pulled away, crawling off of Sasuke at rapid speeds. He sat there staring at the ground, the redness spreading across his face and his ears and his neck and...well, everything practically.

Sasuke blinked sleepily, he wasn't sure banshees existed but he was sure one had just woken him up…right when Naruto's lips were pressed against his. Sasuke looked over at the blushing boy who tried not to look at him. Sasuke's face was flushed as well but not just from embracement. He found that out when he tried to say Naruto's name and it came out as nothing more then a rasping squeak.

Naruto blinked and looked up. "Sasuke?" He asked, worry creeping into his voice. "What's wrong?" He inched closer.

Sasuke tried to talk again but just made a croaking noise and started to cough. The blush faded immediately from Naruto's face to be replaced by ash white, it sounded like Sasuke was dying or something. He had to get him out of here and to a hospital...He jumped to his feet and grabbed Sasuke's clothes.

It was a good thing they were dry otherwise Sasuke would have gotten worse because of lack of clothing or wet clothing against his skin. Tossing Sasuke his shirt and shorts Naruto began to hastily pull on his pants as well. As the blonde was hopping around with one leg in the pants and the other trying to get in, he spotted something mud coloured with a bit of pink showing though lying sprawled in the doorway.

"What the hell is that?" He asked, blinking and pointing. Sasuke looked behind him, pausing in putting on his shirt to see what Naruto was talking about. He pulled the shirt over his head he crawled over to the muddy blob, now pretty much clothed save for his headband and shoes. He reached out and shook it, and some of the mud fell off to reveal that it was, in fact, Sakura.

Sasuke blinked as the mud clad Sakura opened her eyes and stared at Sasuke, bewildered. Sasuke didn't say anything but merely raised an eyebrow at her. The pink haired girl blinked again before the blurry figure before her came into focus to reveal Sasuke.

"Sasuke-kun!" She cried and glomped onto him, effectively suffocating him.

Sasuke tried to pry her off and tell her that he couldn't breath, but he felt weak and was unable to speak.

"Hey, hey..." Naruto complained, coming up from behind Sasuke. "He's already half dead don't finish the job..." He stopped when Sakura dislodged herself from Sasuke and shot him a look of pure hatred.

Naruto's blood ran cold as he meekly backed away from Sakura...she was scary...but at least he had saved Sasuke from dying. Trying not to notice Sakura's ice freezing glare Naruto picked up Sasuke's shoes and head band, handing them to him he felt his cheeks go read when the other boy actually looked relived about something...probably thankful he could breath again.

Naruto pulled on the rest of his clothes while Sasuke put on his shoes and tied the headband to his head. Naruto shook out his blonde hair before he put his own headband on...it was full of dirt and other nasty things...first thing he was doing when he got home was having a shower...

Sasuke got to his feet, and wobbled, and Sakura was right there to hold him up. Sasuke was slightly disappointed...he'd kind of hoped that he could lean on Naruto instead…

But his disappointment didn't last long because Naruto was there on his other side throwing one of the blankets over his shoulders to ward of the chill in the morning air. Sasuke blushed a little when Naruto's hand brushed his cheek...but the blush could hardly be seen over his fever. "Are you okay to walk Sasuke-kun?" Sakura's voice was like an annoying mosquito in his ear.

He nodded his head weakly and Naruto opened the little shack's door to reveal that the woods were now bright with early morning sunshine. It was quite different than at night...kinda pretty actually, but Naruto didn't have time to mull it all over. He looked right, then left and blinked. "Which way is home?" He asked intelligently.

Sakura slapped her forehead, "Don't you remember anything, Naruto?" she asked annoyed, Naruto just blinked at her and scratched the back of his head.

"Yeah well I guess not!" he laughed and Sasuke sighed and pulled on Naruto's sleeve to bring him closer. Sasuke was barely able to talk above a whisper but his message got through, "Dumb...sss...ah...carried you..."

"Oh yeah..." Naruto's arm fell from behind his head. Sasuke had carried him here...after they'd beaten the living crap out of each other...in fact he couldn't remember anything after Sasuke had tackled him that last time...he had absolutely no idea where he was.

Sakura made a clicking sound with her tongue. "Fine! I'll lead us home, since you were too stupid to pay attention..." Naruto resisted the urge to tell her he was unconscious. "You will have to help Sasuke-kun walk..." Her eyes narrowed slightly as if daring him to try something.

Naruto just grinned at her which only increased her worry, but Sasuke didn't complain...nor could he talk but either way he didn't show that he was annoyed with Naruto when he took ahold of his arm and swung it around his shoulder...Sakura didn't see his other hand but she wasn't shear she wanted to find it either.

Sasuke shivered a little as Naruto's missing hand rested against the skin of his waist...not that he was complaining at all.

The three of them moved forward, Sakura leading the way and clearing a path for the rather cumbersome mess that was Sasuke and Naruto right now. It was difficult for Naruto to keep Sasuke up, considering the other boy was taller than he was, but he kept going, refusing to listen to the aches in his body...they had lessened quite a bit since the night before...the Kyuubi must have healed him again.

Sasuke, on the other hand...well he was sick and injured, Naruto tried not to wince as he saw the bruise underneath Sasuke's flustered cheek. And Sasuke's hand...that was going to need looking after really soon, too.

Naruto and Sasuke slowly walked on behind Sakura, where did that girl get her energy? She was practically sprinting ahead of them as the two boys ambled on as if on a death march or something.

They reached a steep hill and Naruto had to practically carry Sasuke up, his feet slipping on the muddy soil. He managed to make it up, however, and continued walking, taking as much strain off of Sasuke's body as he could...it was the least he could do for hurting him so badly...

"Sasuke...?" He whispered as they continued their slow march through the trees. Sasuke turned his head to look at him, trying not to wince at the pain in his neck. Naruto hung his head. "I-I'm sorry..." He muttered.

Sasuke stared at him wide eyed and opened his mouth to say something but all that came out was a choking sound. Shaking his head in frustration, Sasuke looked at Sakura who was ahead of them...hoping she wasn't going to look back at just that moment Sasuke leaned over and lightly brushed his lips against Naruto's cheek.

The blonde felt himself blush at the contact...he'd barely felt it but it had been there, those lips so gentle on his skin...He turned his head and Sasuke actually smiled at him. Naruto's blush deepened and he squeezed Sasuke's waist just a little...he knew he should be trying to stop his heart from racing but right now he didn't particularly care...

"HEY! Naruto, quit dragging your ass! We're almost at the Village!" Sakura's shrill voice brought them both back to reality. Bushing like mad both of them tried to act as if nothing had happened in the passed few seconds as Naruto quickened his pace a little. As they reached the gates to the village all three students stared in shock to see their teacher sanding there reading his perverted book as if he hadn't a care in the world.

"Kakashi-sensei!" Sakura screeched and both boys winced. That girl's voice could be almost like nails on a chalkboard at times.

"Ah I see you've found them, good work." Kakashi said, sounding bored and not taking his eyes off his book.

"Kakashi-sensei, you just left me out there to kill myself in the wilderness, didn't you?" Sakura demanded as the other two hobbled up.

"You aren't dead, are you?" Kakashi asked, and actually took his eyes off the book to stare at the other two. "Well aren't you two a sight." He said.

Eyeing the two younger ninja before him Kakashi's casual gaze picked up everything... the bruising just under Sasuke's skin, his bandaged hand the fiver on his face...along with a blush...Naruto was blushing too. But in Kakashi's opinion it was a good sign. "Well we might as well get Sasuke to the hospital...don't want him dying of pneumonia now do we?"

The three of them just nodded, really they were too exhausted to complain.

Naruto stood outside the plain blue door with the number 206 stamped on it and took a deep breath...this was it, Sasuke was behind this door, and word had it that he could talk again and was aloud to see visitors...

Taking a deep breath to calm his nerves, Naruto pulled open the door and stepped in. Sasuke was sitting up in bed looking rather annoyed to be there, his injured hand was now bandaged in something proper and Sasuke's face was now back to its normal pale shade. It had only been two days since they had gotten back and Naruto had only just worked up the courage to come and see the dark haired ninja.

"Um...hi..." Naruto greeted nervously, afraid that Sasuke would throw him out for waiting two days to come and see him. He'd wanted to bring flowers or something but wasn't sure if that was a proper gift for a guy so he was also empty handed...well save for the little orange book tucked into his pocket...

Sasuke looked up and his expression brightened a little when he saw who it was.

But again this was Sasuke who had a great difficulty showing his feelings to other people, he had wanted to ask where the blonde had been all this time and what not but it only came out, "Where were you?" in almost an annoyed tone of voice. Sasuke bit his lip, even he had heard the edge to his voice, he really was going to have to stop doing that to Naruto. Sighing a little Sasuke muttered, 'sorry,' before looking away, blushing.

Naruto blushed and shuffled into the room to stand by the bed. He looked around for a minute as if trying to think of something to say. "Ne...Ne how do you feel...?" He asked at last.

Sasuke closed his eyes...he would talk to Naruto like a normal person this time...after all he was nervous and concerned for his well being...

"I'm fine." He answered quickly. 'DAMN IT, what is wrong with you?' his mind screamed in frustration.

Mentally smacking himself Sasuke swallowed a lump in his throat, "I-I'm sorry, Naruto..." he said again, wishing he had better people skills.

Naruto just shrugged off the apology and stared at his feet before looking up, his face bright red, "Sasuke...Umm well...y-you know I read your diary right..." Naruto stated more then asked, "...and well... I-I wasn't sure how I could...make it up to you ..." Naruto swallowed his words and held out his bright orange journal for Sasuke to take.

Sasuke blinked at the little orange book...it was Naruto's diary, and he was handing it over to him of his own free will? He reached out a hand and took it, not wanting to be rude, and opened a page...sure enough, it was all chicken scratch.

"Um...thank you Naruto but...but..." He swallowed trying to say this without sounding rude. "I-I can't read your writing..."

Naruto sighed. "I-I know it's messy but...but if you try you can make it out...I want you to read this one entry..." He mumbled and reached over to flip the pages back a ways.

Naruto blushed again as he stepped back, "I-If you can't read it...ask Iruka...he's pretty good at reading my writing." Naruto advised and turned to flee the room but Sasuke's voice stopped him with his hand on the doorknob.

"N-Naruto...Thank-you..." he said as the blonde turned back and looked at him. Naruto smiled a little...not his normal bight grin but just a sweet tender smile before he left Sasuke to decrypt his words.

Sasuke was let out later that day and he went home, taking Naruto's diary with him. Naruto seemed to be avoiding him...he apparently didn't want to talk to him until he read the entry in the diary...which gave Sasuke the incentive he needed to decipher the letters on his own...if Iruka could read them then so could he...

Of course it was easier said than done. He spent almost a whole night and day trying unsuccessfully to read the scribbled writings, but their secrets remained locked off to him.

Sasuke groaned as he leaned back in his chair...he had been trying to read the damn thing for too long...his eyes were blurry and he had a headache...plus, judging from the darkness in his room it had to be long past bedtime. Singing, Sasuke decided he wasn't going to get it done that night. Crawling into bed...or more like flopping into it, Sasuke tried to fall asleep...maybe if he refreshed his mind he could decrypt the words better in the morning.

But sleep never came...Sasuke just stared up at the ceiling like it was the most interesting thing in the world...

Finally after counting the spots on his ceiling for what had to be the tenth time, he growled and sat up. "Fine, I'll try again..." He muttered to the diary, and pulled it off the desk beside his bed. He blinked sleepily at the words as they swirled in the dim light of his lamp...this was ridiculous he'd never be able to...

Wait...he blinked and looked closer at the letters. Yes...yes there was a word, right there, plain as the paper it was written on...he looked elsewhere, and found that the words were suddenly jumping at him like puzzle pieces falling into place.

Maybe he was just hallucinating or dreaming but as Sasuke recognized the words he was able to write them down on a scrap of paper...he really did not know how he understood them but some times lack of sleep can do wonders.

Sasuke finally put his pencil down and looked at his...neater copy and began to read.

The date first...this was the diary entry directly after their return from the country of Waves...why did Naruto want him to read that? He blinked and moved along.

'Something strange happened the other day...' it began. 'Well...stranger than being attacked by that Zabuza guy and his weird little girly apprentice, Haku...actually it happened while we were fighting the girly apprentice guy...' Sasuke couldn't help but smile, Naruto's writings were as disjointed as his thought processes were. 'Anyway, Sasuke...died, well kind of, he wasn't really dead but...the weirdest feeling came over me...it was like something had been torn out of my heart I felt empty...'

Sasuke blinked at he stared at the words... 'Naruto felt empty when I was put into that fake death?' he asked himself in disbelief but moved on to read the rest.

'I don't remember much after Sasuke died in my arms but I know I never want to go through that again...it hurt to see Sasuke dead in my arms...is that right? I think I...MIGHT have feeling for the bastard...its scary, I don't know what to do. Sasuke would probably hate me if he finds out...he doesn't seem to like me that much to begin with... but why would he sacrifice himself for me if he hated me? Again I'm confused...'

Sasuke stopped reading and stared blankly at the words. Naruto...had feelings for him back then? He'd been hurt by his death? He'd never even guessed it to look at the guy afterwards...he forced himself back into reality to read the last little bit, his heart by now pounding In his chest.

'...The scariest part was when I found out he'd made it out alive...I thought I was going to die of happiness...I wanted to run over there and hug him but he just kind of waved at me so I stayed where he was...it's all so confusing...'

Sasuke felt his own heart hammering in his chest as he read Naruto's words, he had been confused as well when he had started feeling things for the blonde...but instead of pretending everything was normal he had ...well he had turned a bit cold to the other guy. Sasuke sighed and leaned back in his chair, it was so confusing...but he had to read the rest...

'I don't know what I'm supposed to do...' Naruto's words continued. 'I can't let him know...I can't let anyone know...I tried to look at Sakura this morning like I used to but I can't...I guess I'll just keep pretending that I like her, and maybe someday everything will go back to normal. But I doubt it...' And that was it...the equivalent of a confession, no matter how old it was...

Sasuke sat back again pondering what he had read... he wanted to go out right then and see Naruto but he was probably asleep at this time of night...but if he didn't go now when would he? In the morning he might lose his nerve to even find the blonde. Sasuke stood up finally coming to a decision, he was going to see Naruto now before he lose his nerve and the butterflies took over his stomach. Changing as quickly as he could, Sasuke was out the door in a flash and at a dead run towards Naruto's home.

It didn't take him long to get there but it felt like an eternity to the dark haired ninja. He took a deep breath as he stood outside the door and tried to catch his breath, diary still clutched in his hand. Finally he worked up the nerve to reach out and pound on the door. He waited a while but heard no movement inside, so he tried again.

"Alright, alright already, I'm coming!" Naruto's voice could be heard through the door, muffled, but it was definitely him. The door was wrenched open, revealing a scowling Naruto. The scowl, however, soon melted away when Naruto saw who it was that had woken him up this late at night.

Naruto blinked sleepily at Sasuke who stood panting in his doorway, bright orange diary clutched in his un-injured hand. "Sasuke...y-you read it?" Naruto asked almost afraid of what answer he might receive from the question.

Sasuke nodded his head finally able to get his labored breathing under control, "I read it..." he told Naruto then stood there in silence as the other worked up the nerve to say something.

"Um...um...what did you think...?" Naruto stuttered after a long pause, blushing and looking at the ground. He was still afraid...afraid Sasuke was angry at him, would be angry at him for keeping this from him for so long...

"I think..." Sasuke paused. "I think I should have read this ages ago..."

Naruto blinked as he looked up into Sasuke's eyes, they weren't hateful or anything that Naruto had become accustomed to from the other villagers. The blonde boy had never really seen that look in Sasuke's eyes before...well maybe once on that bridge when he told Naruto to live. Naruto couldn't think of what to say as he looked into Sasuke's tender eyes there was one big difference between his eyes back then and now...now his eyes were filled with something that could only be akin to joy or happiness.

"Sasuke..." He started to say but the other boy suddenly moved forward and took Naruto's hand in his, pulling him forward. Naruto gasped a little as Sasuke leaned forward and suddenly pressed his lips against his in a soft, tender kiss. His eyes widened in shock at first but then his eyes closed and he just let himself enjoy it.

After a moment Sasuke pulled back form Naruto and wrapped his arms around the smaller boy's waist and held him close, "Naruto..." he whispered into the blonde's shoulder but Naruto could hear him quite clearly. "I-I love you..." Sasuke blushed as he said the words but was gratified to feel Naruto return his embrace.

"I love you, too..." Naruto whispered back, burying his face in Sasuke's shirt happily.

Sasuke sighed and held onto Naruto...there were tears in his eyes but they weren't tears of sorrow anymore...he had what he wanted...Naruto loved him back...his hair smelled like sunflowers, and he breathed in deep. He realized...it wouldn't have mattered if Naruto was a girl...or anything else for that matter he still would have loved him…

Naruto grinned up at Sasuke with his fox grin as he pulled the darker haired boy into his home and shut the door behind him. Sasuke blinked when he realized Naruto was still in his pj's and wearing that ridiculous hat on his head. But Sasuke didn't care, he had Naruto and the boy could dress in drag for all he cared.

Sasuke smiled as the boy grabbed his hand and pulled him farther into the apartment, still grinning like a fox. "Ne, ne, do you want something to eat...Sasuke-chan?" He asked eagerly.

Sasuke's smile broadened a little at the chan Naruto had put at the end of his name. He could think of a lot of other things he'd rather be doing than eating...but those would have to wait until later. "Sure." He answered.

Naruto held tightly to his hand and swung around laughing happily, even though he was acting like a little kid Sasuke couldn't help but let himself be pulled and spun around the apartment and it was almost like some clumsy kind of dance with no music. Although Naruto really should have keeps his eyes open as he pulled Sasuke along with him, because his foot caught on a cord and both of them went sprawling to the floor.

"Oww..." Naruto whined and rubbed his head, looking up. He froze and turned very red when he realized that Sasuke was directly on top of him, their noses almost touching. He didn't try to retreat however, even though his heart was pounding wildly in his chest at the incredible closeness of the other boy and the rather...err...compromising position they were in...

He could see Sasuke's face clearly in the soft moonlight that shone on them through the window.

'Moon light?' Naruto gasped and looked over at the window in horror, yes they were sitting directly in the pale light. Naruto squeezed his eyes shut and prepared himself for the pain that was to come. After a moment though...nothing happened, Naruto peeked an eye open and looked up at Sasuke who had raised an eyebrow at him. He blinked and held up his hands and saw that they were sill pink and fleshy not orange and furry.

"...Huh?" He asked, very confused. He whirled his head around and looked at his backside...no tail...

"Naruto, are you ok?" Sasuke asked, raising his eyebrow a little higher at Naruto's strange behavior.

"I...the moonlight...I'm still me!" Naruto stuttered incoherently, looking for all the world like a lost puppy or something.

Sasuke sat back and still looked confused, "You mean...you turn into a fox when you're in moonlight?" he asked the blonde.

Naruto nodded his head vigorously , "Yeah, YEAH! It happened after I changed back the first time, but now I'm still me!" Naruto clung to Sasuke's arm, "Sasuke-chan what's happening? Nothing makes sense anymore."

Sasuke blinked but reached out to hold the confused blonde boy. "I don't know..." He admitted. He didn't understand it either...if Naruto turned into a fox in the moonlight...he'd only had to just touch it with his foot that night in the shack...then why was he still himself as he lay there with him, completely immersed in moonlight? "D-don't worry about it, Naruto..." He said at last. "We'll go see the Hokage or someone in the morning and maybe they can explain it..."

"Oh there's no need to wait till morning to ask." The voice of their instructor nearly gave both boys a heart attack when he blocked out the white light of the moon.

"Kakashi-sensei!" Naruto cried, clutching at his heart. "Don't DO that!" he yelled angrily at his teacher and Kakashi just chuckled.

"Now, now Naruto, I'm just here to answer some questions you might have."

Naruto looked even more confused than before. "Huh?" He asked intelligently.

Sasuke, however, had an inkling of what might be going on and his eyes narrowed suspiciously in Kakashi's direction.

"Kakashi-sensei did you have anything to do with this?" He asked.

"Hmmm." Kakashi thought about it for a moment. "Yeah I guess I kinda did!" He answered with a grin.

"WHAT!" Naruto demanded outraged, and Kakashi just laughed and rubbed the back of his head.

"Oh well it was nothing, I didn't change you the first time around if that's what you're asking."

Naruto stared at him in shock, "...Not...the first time?" he muttered then pointed at Kakashi again. "BUT WHAT ABOUT ALL THE OTHERS!"

"Oh those...well I might have put a wee bit of a curse on you..." Kakashi admitted, and continued to rub the back of his head.

Naruto turned pale, then red, then an angry purple in the span of five seconds. "WHAT!" He screamed at last. "Damn it, Kakashi don't you know how much it hurt to transform, what the hell is wrong with you?"

Kakashi rubbed the back of his head, "Oh Naruto you didn't die from it did you?" he asked then held up a finger. "Besides, no pain no gain as they say."

Naruto blinked, "Gain!" He asked in disbelief, "What the hell did I gain form turning into a fox?"

Kakashi coughed and pointed to Sasuke who was sitting beside the blonde looking just as annoyed and confused.

Naruto blinked at Sasuke then turned back to Kakashi and blinked some more, and his eyes grew wide in sudden realization. "Oh..." He muttered. It was true...if he hadn't been the fox he never would have found out how Sasuke felt about him and he would still be denying everything and chasing after Sakura who he didn't even care about. "Yeah well..." He blushed and looked away.

Sasuke cleared his throat, catching Kakashi and Naruto's attention. "Okay, but why didn't Naruto change into a fox just now?" The dark haired ninja had to ask.

Kakashi just laughed and tisked at them, "Don't you know anything about curses, Uchiha Sasuke? The curse is only broken when the one who is cursed receives a kiss form their true love." Both Sasuke and Naruto did not look convinced.

"Oh yeah, well how come I didn't change back when I kissed Sasuke when I was a fox?" Naruto demanded.

"You kissed him as a fox?" Kakashi blinked. "Well that wasn't a real kiss now was it?" he asked as if it were all just a very amusing game. Naruto and Sasuke twitched.

"So..." Sasuke spoke up after a pause. "I kissed Naruto...and he's not a fox...so that means..."

"Yup!" Kakashi grinned like an idiot through the mask. "Your his true love! Ain't it sweet?"

Kakashi ducked as what appeared to be a lamp flew through the air aiming for his head. The lamp shattered against the wall behind him and Kakashi tisked at Sasuke, "Now, now there's no reason to be embarrassed, Sasuke-chan." he said knowing it would just get under Sasuke's skin. "After all, you two are so cute together!" Something else flew through the air again, this time compliments of Naruto.

"Alright, alright I know when I'm not wanted." Kakashi grinned after dodging this last projectile. "I understand, you two want some quality time...alone I'll get out of your hair!" He hopped into the window, and waved goodbye. "Have fun, you two!" He called in an all-too-happy tone of voice and disappeared.

Naruto and Sasuke sat in the silence, straining their ears for any sound of their perverted sensei to return and annoy them some more. After about five minutes they finally thought it safe to move and speak.

Naruto sighed, "Man he's such a pervert..." He muttered under his breath moving closer to Sasuke. As he did so though Kakashi's head popped up from behind them. "Oh! and use protection!"

Naruto jumped and fell on his face, then got up and proceeded to throw things at Kakashi until he had chased him back out the window. He angrily slammed the window shut and leaned against it, breathing heavily, trying to get his heart back down to normal levels. It hadn't been so much the fact that Kakashi had appeared out of nowhere that had caused his heart rate to speed up, it was what he had said.

Sasuke suppressed a smirk as Naruto chased away their teacher and stood there painting, muttering something about perverts under his breath. Although Sasuke couldn't blame Naruto for that reaction, he couldn't help but think of the irony of it all. Dropping what appeared to be a rolled up newspaper, Naruto stopped and looked at Sasuke. "What are you smirking at?"

Sasuke's smirk widened as he stood up and walked slowly towards Naruto without saying a word. Naruto blushed. "Wha...what are you doing...?" He asked somewhat nervously as Sasuke continued to advance.

When he finally reached Naruto, Sasuke stared down at him for a moment before reaching out and pulling him into a long and passionate kiss, holding him close about the waist.

At last Sasuke pulled away. "Oh..." Naruto said with a dazed smile on his face.

Naruto reached up and placed a hand on Sasuke's cheek before pushing the dark hair out of his eyes. This time though it was Naruto who stood up on his tip toes and placed a tender kiss on Sasuke's lips. "Arigato... Sasuke-chan..." Naruto whispered, watching the dark eyes that shone in the moonlight.

"Arigato, Naruto..." Sasuke whispered back and caught ahold of the others lips again kissing him deeply.

The end

There…Hope everyone liked it. It was fun to write and cool to see so many positive reviews. Even if we did take FOREVER to update…

We will be putting up a new story soon, so please keep an eye out for it, we hope you will all enjoy it as much as you have enjoyed this one, if not more And thank you all so much for your support and your endless patience with a couple of procrastinators like us, we really appreciate it.

Bye for now!


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